Amtrak

This station is shared with the bus (Greyhound, Megabus, etc) in one centralized location walking distance from Destiny USA (which is super useful!). The space downstairs has some food options including a Subway. Once the train arrived, it was easy to take the elevator downstairs and walk over to the mall where I had a work meeting. The wifi on the Internet was even mostly the entire way (only one short stint where it was slow) from Buffalo to Syracuse. It wasn’t very crowded on this particular train, which might be why.

Never, ever again. Took a train to the city for a weekend trip because Ive never taken a train, and it sounded «charming». Yeah, whadda sap! The ride down sucked plenty on it’s own, but the train from Manhattan to Syracuse. What is normally a 4+ hour drive… Guess how long it took? Wait for it… I’m gonna first tell you about the fact that the advertised free WIFI didn’t work, the light above my kid’s seat had no protective guard on it and burned my kid badly, the safety measures to ensure a lunatic terrorist isn’t boarding with bombs does not exist– and I mean, zero bag check, metal detector, NOTHING… The «café» car is really just some schlep microwaving jimmy dean breakfast sandwiches for 5 bucks a pop … There was a layover in albany. Wtf is a «layover» on a train? During which, the lights went out, accompanied by an announcement that the train has «lost power», and during this time we should please NOT USE OR FLUSH THE TOILETS. Needless to say the restrooms eventually smelled like a porta-​potty that sat in the sun all day. … And the travel time from NYC to Syracuse? OVER TEN EFFING HOURS. Yep, we boarded the train at 3:45, and got off it at 2:00am! 10 hours from NY to Syracuse? What a slap in the face. Who the F ever heard of «freight traffic»? Thats what one jamoke said when I asked about one of the delays as we sat still… Absurd. If I could make one suggestion to all staff and management at Amtrak, it would be to find new work, you blow at this.

The train conductor was short with me. The bathroom lock was broken, and someone walked in on my wife. The train didn’t have wifi as advertised. To top it all off, it ran 25 mins late. It was the Albany to Syracuse line at night

The train into NYC is a great ride. Doesn’t take that long and beats the hell out of driving.

Everything was great, but the Internet, the Internet was slow… Can’t live without it…
The price for round trip from Rochester to NYC is a little cheaper if you were to take the plane. Amtrak does not check for Baggage, so there no fee or weight limit.

This is about the astonishingly great customer service I received from a Syracuse station Amtrak employee and if it reads a bit «over the top,» it is because I intend it to be so. My husband and I took the train from Syr to Penn station, in Business class, and found it to be a very pleasant and super convenient way to travel. As happy as I was with the Amtrak train service, itself, the real mind blowing experience came after I returned home and discovered that I had left my iPhone on the train.
Using the «Find my Phone» app, I tracked my phone on to the train parked at the train depot in NYC overnight. I could not, however, get anyone on the phone at Penn’s Lost and Found. So, the next day, I followed the phone via GPS on its return trip back to Niagara Falls. In desperation, I called the Syracuse station fully expecting to be told that there was no way to find something that small that had fallen through the seat cushions — on a moving train, to boot. Boy! was I wrong. A gentleman named Jim went above and way beyond what could reasonably be expected from a busy train station employee. He figured out the correct train, its current location, and got in touch with the train conductor to ask him to look for the phone. Once the phone was found, Jim used great ingenuity to get back in touch with me as the number on file for me was incorrect. He looked up the Amtrak rewards profile, tried several different numbers until he got my husband on his cell. When the train got to his station, he helpfully boxed up the phone, ensured that the phone would be on the train back to Penn Stn the next day, and advised me about the easiest way for me to claim the phone once it got back to NYC.
I am forever grateful to Jim for taking the trouble to problem solve so expertly and for making sure that I was reunited with my phone (and all its critical information). Not only did he impress us with his consummate professionalism and skill but he made Amtrak look great for having an employee of this caliber on staff. I am a life long fan of Amtrak, now.

Simple the best way to travel from Syracuse to NYC!!! pay the extra $ 20 and upgrade yourself to business class. It is well worth it. It was an easy trip and it took the hassle out of worrying about parking a car down town NYC. Well worth it. On the return leg a sleeper car was an option and my cousin and I upgraded ourselves to that. Well worth it. We were offered a private waiting room in Penn Station which offered free coffee, water, soda and snacks while waiting for our train. Once we were on the train we were provided free dinner however had to pay for alcholic beverages. We both thought the dinner was going to be similar to that of an airline. Boy were we both wrong! She had a roasted leg of lamb and I had stuffed manacotti. It was deli-​sh! All the services would have been over the cost of the sleeper car if we had to pay individually for it all and the purchase of a business class seat. We loved it so much we have already made reservations to do it again!