Cheapest Way To Get From Philly to New York by rail! (Penn: buy, costs)

[criedman101]

Ladies and gentleman, I have found the cheapest way to get from Philly to New York, and no, it does not require any shady Chinatown bus or Septa trenton line that costs $10 per ride from the city!

The trick is to ride the NJ transit bus ($1.75) over to Camden from Center City (Google map it). Then get on the Light rail towards trenton transit center at Walter Rand Trans. Center ($1.50). Get on the regional train at Trenton Transit Center and get a ticket for Newark Penn Station ($11.50), and then finally get on the PATH train towards the World Trade Center at Newark Penn ($2.50) and ride it to the last stop (obviously) and you're in New York.

A total cost of $17.25!!

Of course this method takes the least amount of money, but it also takes the most amount of time to do it . But, if you're on a budget/just visiting family this is the cheapest way to do so without having to dig into your pockets. What you really have to do is time the busses and trains right. It should only take you about 2 hrs if you do it correctly :-).

[maf763]

I recently bought a Boltbus ticket for someone with a day's notice for $12.

[Becca8377]

Originally Posted by maf763

I recently bought a Boltbus ticket for someone with a day's notice for $12.

This.

You can get Boltbus or Megabus for cheaper. And no crazy connections.

[criedman101]

Originally Posted by maf763

I recently bought a Boltbus ticket for someone with a day's notice for $12.

Some Boltbus tickets to NYC are $12, but it all depends on what time of the day you leave. That bus leaves at 10pm and gets to NYC at 12 in the morning (which is why it's so cheap). The cheapest one during the day you can get is the one that costs $14, and it leaves at 7am. With mine you don't have to leave at crazy times of the morning to get there (if you're on a budget there's no point of rushing to get there early and spend all of your money by 12 in the afternoon).

Although it is a lot safer and cheaper to ride the Boltbus from NYC to Philly when you leave at night.

[Becca8377]

Originally Posted by criedman101

Some Boltbus tickets to NYC are $12, but it all depends on what time of the day you leave. That bus leaves at 10pm and gets to NYC at 12 in the morning (which is why it's so cheap). The cheapest one during the day you can get is the one that costs $14, and it leaves at 7am. With mine you don't have to leave at crazy times of the morning to get there (if you're on a budget there's no point of rushing to get there early and spend all of your money by 12 in the afternoon).

Although it is a lot safer and cheaper to ride the Boltbus from NYC to Philly when you leave at night.

I just checked Megabus for tomorrow - the most expensive tickets are $15. All the daytime ones are cheaper than that. Cheapest is $9.

[MikeNigh]

I normally take the yo bus for 12 one way and 20 round trip. It's actually kept very nice.

[criedman101]

Man, maybe there are some cheaper methods to going out of state. The problem is I am not 18 yet, so I can't buy a ticket and then just show up there with someone that's not an adult. Trust me, I've tried. So maybe I should (if I could) re-title this "cheapest way to get from Philly to NYC by rail"? Man, **scratches head, wish some MOD would change the name **wink wink**

[mullligan150]

Very creative but, that would take so long and be such a pain that it's not worth it to save the extra 8 or 9 bucks. The connections would add so much time. Taking the NJ transit rail from Trenton to Newark alone is kind of a hike in itself. I still agree that the Bolt and Megabuses are the absolute best ways to travel between New York and Philly withoud driving.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by mullligan150

Taking the NJ transit rail from Trenton to Newark alone is kind of a hike in itself. I still agree that the Bolt and Megabuses are the absolute best ways to travel between New York and Philly withoud driving.

I've heard this rumor a lot, and after a few years, I've come to the conclusion that it must be based on weekend travelers. Just this past monday I caught the 5.44 trenton line out of Market East which got to Trenton at 6.42.

NJ Transit NE corridor express left Trenton at 6.46 and we were at Penn Station at 7.57. The only stops were Hamilton, Princeton Junction, Newark, and Secaucus.

In other words, it took me 50 minutes to walk from my door, go to the 23 bus stop and catch the bus all the way down to Market East (7 miles)- and it took another 60 minutes to get from Market East to Trenton (30 miles)- but only 70 minutes to get from Trenton NJ to Penn Station (60 miles). It's not bad. If you're just talking Midtown Manhattan to Center City Philly, even the local train is pretty competitive time-wise with megabus. There's more an illusion of it taking long because you're stopping often on the local train - an illusion you can avoid with the express trains.

It's not as cheap as megabus, and I do often use megabus. Which has always been fine (and very cheap when planned ahead - I did a 5 person round trip for 80 dollars once).

[Clark Park]

Until recently I was typically taking Megabus for roughly $20 - $24 rountrip.

Now I'm taking the Chinatown buses again for slightly less. These are not the old Chinatown buses that were closed down a few years ago, they are cleaner, newer, and safer. They are being closely monitored, so everything is on the up and up.

With the Chinatown buses you don't have to make advance reservations online ... you just show up. The best part is that these companies have actual indoor waiting rooms. I can tell you from experience that waiting in an out of doors sidewalk or parking lot in the cold and/or the rain in New York City for a Bolt or Mega bus that is delayed is pure hell.