NY Outdoors blog reader Sara asked the following interesting question:
“I wonder which part of the Erie Canal bike bath lends itself to arriving by Amtrak. Which station would be closest to the off road riding by the canal? I could do loop riding and return home via the same Amtrak station, or ride further and return by a different station.”
There-in lies a conundrum. Amtrak stations are usually nestled in the bowels of a city. I know there’s a great distance between the Rochester station and the Erie Canalway Trail. Although, if you’re willing to do some downtown road biking you could pick up the “Genesee River – Downtown Loop Trail” (page 61 in “Take Your Bike – Family Rides in the Rochester Area”) and ride it to the connection with the Erie Canalway Trail.
Does anyone know of other cites along the Amtrak route that are accessible to the Erie Canalway Trail?
Funnily enough, the old Erie Canal went through the bowels of Syracuse, while the Syracuse Amtrak station is north of the city. The Onondaga Creekwalk, a 2.2 mile walking and bike path due to be completed in 2011, will run from Onondaga Lake near the Amtrak station to Armory Square in the middle of the city, crossing over Erie Boulevard — which is what used to be the Erie Canal. Unfortunately of course the Erie Canalway Trail is interrupted in the Syracuse area, from Camillus in the western suburbs to DeWitt in the eastern. When and if it’s ever completed, what route will it take? I don’t know.
The only train that allows a boxed bikes, the Lakeshore Limited runs east and west but once a day.
Heading west, it departs from Albany at 7:05 pm (every day of the week) with an arrival of 11:55pm at the Depew Station in Cheektowaga, N.Y. Heading east, it departs Cheektowaga at 9:06 am and arrives in Albany at 2:50pm.
There is a $5 service charge for each bike if you pack gear in your own bike box. Make sure it doesn’t weigh over 50lbs., or there will be an additional $10 charge. One-way train fare from Albany to Buffalo can range from $40-80.
Note: there is NO baggage service at Buffalo’s Downtown station. If you’re bringing a boxed bike then the Depew station is your only bet in Buffalo (716-683-8440)
Granted, this one train a day in each direction does not lend itself to day-tripping by trail along the Canalway corridor. It’s a real shortcoming on Amtrak’s part.
The Lakeshore Limited stops at the following rail stations within a bike-able distance from the Canalway trail: Rochester (585-454-2894), Utica (315-797-8962), Schenectady (518-346-8651), and Albany/Rensselaer (518-462-5740).
Syracuse’s AMTRAK station is not in an area of the city that is accessible by bike. The LL does not stop in Rome.
Here are some helpful tips for packing your bicycle for rail travel:
1.Check your bicycle at the station at least one hour before departure. Bicycles usually must be partially disassembled.
2. The fee for checking a bike as baggage is $5-10 based on distance and route. You can reserve space for bicycles when purchasing your ticket. (This is subject to change without notice).
For more details contact Amtrak: 1-800-872-7245, http://www.amtrak.com
I forgot to add the link to the Lakeshore Limited website.
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Route_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245664423
I think the larger problem would be the ability to ship the bike. Do the trains take bikes without being packed in a box? Do all the trains take large luggage?
But to the question, the trains stop at Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Albany. There is a trail from downtown Rochester to the canal trail, so maybe Rochester to Buffalo? Amsterdam to Utica? Amsterdam to Schenectady?
This would not be a issue if the old Interurban trolley was still running!
Unfortunately not all trains accept large luggage such as bike boxes. For this corridor, the Lakeshore Limited is the only one that I know of that does allow boxed bikes – I do not know of ANY Amtrak trains that allow assembled bikes. It’s a shame. Metro North and the NYC MTA allow bikes on their trains, although not at peak times.
Second, the Lakeshore Limited does not stop at Amsterdam or Rome. Check out the Printable Route guide at
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/AM_Route_C/1241245664423/1237405732511