18 replies to this topic

[Dan O]

I have a friend that needs to travel on occasion from Philly to Reading PA. Only thing I saw online was Greyhound for $18. Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Dan

[Acela150]

If they have a friend that would be able to give them a ride. He could ride to either Main Street or Elm Street on the Norristown line I'd suggest Elm and make their way to 422 which leads into Reading. It's about an hours ride from there.

Reading is also has several places to railfan NS and the Reading and Northern Railway which is based out of Port Clinton.

[Dan O]

If they have a friend that would be able to give them a ride. He could ride to either Main Street or Elm Street on the Norristown line I'd suggest Elm and make their way to 422 which leads into Reading. It's about an hours ride from there.

Reading is also has several places to railfan NS and the Reading and Northern Railway which is based out of Port Clinton.

Thanks. Will pass on the info.

[fairviewroad]

Another rail + private car combo could be Amtrak or SEPTA to Downingtown. According to Google Maps that shaves about 8 miles off the car portion of the trip
each way, and I'd imagine there are fewer traffic issues once you get out to Downingtown compared to Norristown. Traffic in the Norristown/King of Prussia
area can be pretty brutal.

That said, $18 for a one-seat Greyhound ride seems pretty reasonable.

[railiner]

Greyhound Lines does not serve Reading. They never have....
Here is the Bieber schedule for that service. Bieber acquired the old Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvannia routes a few years ago.
http://www.biebertou...busschedule.pdf

[fairviewroad]

Greyhound Lines does not serve Reading. They never have....
Here is the Bieber schedule for that service. Bieber acquired the old Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvannia routes a few years ago.
http://www.biebertou...busschedule.pdf

An unhelpful distinction to make, actually, since the tickets are sold through the Greyhound website and the bus departs from the Greyhound terminal in Center City Philadelphia.

[Swadian Hardcore]

Greyhound Lines does not serve Reading. They never have....
Here is the Bieber schedule for that service. Bieber acquired the old Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvannia routes a few years ago.
http://www.biebertou...busschedule.pdf

An unhelpful distinction to make, actually, since the tickets are sold through the Greyhound website and the bus departs from the Greyhound terminal in Center City Philadelphia.

How is that an unhelpful distinction if the bus is a Bieber one instead of Greyhound?

[fairviewroad]

Greyhound Lines does not serve Reading. They never have....
Here is the Bieber schedule for that service. Bieber acquired the old Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvannia routes a few years ago.
http://www.biebertou...busschedule.pdf

An unhelpful distinction to make, actually, since the tickets are sold through the Greyhound website and the bus departs from the Greyhound terminal in Center City Philadelphia.

How is that an unhelpful distinction if the bus is a Bieber one instead of Greyhound?

Unhelpful in the sense that if someone is seeking advice about how to get from Point A to Point B, one of the most relevant pieces of information is how to buy your ticket.
Bieber does not sell tickets on its website whereas Greyhound will gladly sell you a ticket from Philadelphia to Reading on its website. Alternatively, one can purchase
a ticket directly from an agent at the bus station in either Philadelphia or Reading, neither of which is operated by Bieber.

So telling someone that "Greyhound does not serve Reading, but Bieber does" is unhelpful if the purpose is to actually help someone complete their journey. Hope that
explains things.

[railiner]

Greyhound Lines does not serve Reading. They never have....
Here is the Bieber schedule for that service. Bieber acquired the old Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvannia routes a few years ago.
http://www.biebertou...busschedule.pdf

An unhelpful distinction to make, actually, since the tickets are sold through the Greyhound website and the bus departs from the Greyhound terminal in Center City Philadelphia.

How is that an unhelpful distinction if the bus is a Bieber one instead of Greyhound?

Unhelpful in the sense that if someone is seeking advice about how to get from Point A to Point B, one of the most relevant pieces of information is how to buy your ticket.
Bieber does not sell tickets on its website whereas Greyhound will gladly sell you a ticket from Philadelphia to Reading on its website. Alternatively, one can purchase
a ticket directly from an agent at the bus station in either Philadelphia or Reading, neither of which is operated by Bieber.

So telling someone that "Greyhound does not serve Reading, but Bieber does" is unhelpful if the purpose is to actually help someone complete their journey. Hope that
explains things.

I was just wanting to clarify the fact that the carrier is actually Bieber, not Greyhound. This may, or may not, mean anything to prospective passengers.
As for being helpful, I did provide a direct link to Bieber's site for all their information. I was not aware that Bieber did not sell there own tickets online, much to my surprise, so thank you for pointing that out....

[Swadian Hardcore]

Greyhound Lines does not serve Reading. They never have....
Here is the Bieber schedule for that service. Bieber acquired the old Capitol Trailways of Pennsylvannia routes a few years ago.
http://www.biebertou...busschedule.pdf

An unhelpful distinction to make, actually, since the tickets are sold through the Greyhound website and the bus departs from the Greyhound terminal in Center City Philadelphia.

How is that an unhelpful distinction if the bus is a Bieber one instead of Greyhound?

Unhelpful in the sense that if someone is seeking advice about how to get from Point A to Point B, one of the most relevant pieces of information is how to buy your ticket.
Bieber does not sell tickets on its website whereas Greyhound will gladly sell you a ticket from Philadelphia to Reading on its website. Alternatively, one can purchase
a ticket directly from an agent at the bus station in either Philadelphia or Reading, neither of which is operated by Bieber.

So telling someone that "Greyhound does not serve Reading, but Bieber does" is unhelpful if the purpose is to actually help someone complete their journey. Hope that
explains things.

I was just wanting to clarify the fact that the carrier is actually Bieber, not Greyhound. This may, or may not, mean anything to prospective passengers.
As for being helpful, I did provide a direct link to Bieber's site for all their information. I was not aware that Bieber did not sell there own tickets online, much to my surprise, so thank you for pointing that out....

I was surprised about that, too. Bieber is not very smart selling tickets through GLI and not themselves. Most Trailways companies sell tickets on their own site. Another confusing thing is why Bieber goes then Allentown instead of Pottstown. Seems like a big detour to me.

BTW, Bieber appears to serve 30th Street Station.

Edited by Swadian Hardcore, 21 September 2012 - 02:41 PM.

[AlanB]

I was surprised about that, too. Bieber is not very smart selling tickets through GLI and not themselves. Most Trailways companies sell tickets on their own site. Another confusing thing is why Bieber goes then Allentown instead of Pottstown. Seems like a big detour to me.

I suspect that most remaining Trailway companies travel greater distances than Bieber does and they were used to selling tickets in other ways, like the internet.

But for a smaller company, this is not unusual in my experience. TransBridge, which serves the Allentown, PA area and runs to NY City doesn't sell tickets on their website either. You can only buy tickets in at a couple of stops directly from TransBridge employees or directly from the driver, and then only a non-discounted adult rate.

If you are starting your trip in NYC, you go to a New Jersey Transit ticket window to buy a ticket for the TB buses. The ticket isn't even on TB stock, it's printed on NJT ticket stock and accepted by the TB driver at the gate.

[fairviewroad]

Not sure why Bieber doesn't sell through its website, but it's definitely smart for them to sell through Greyhound.
Because number one, Greyhound has a far, far better name recognition than Bieber. And number two, that allows
people to buy tickets from anywhere in the national system that connect to Bieber. For instance, you can buy a
ticket from Reading, PA to Grand Forks, ND on the Greyhound website, but Greyhound only supplies the middle
portion of the journey. The first section is by Bieber and the last section is by Jefferson Lines.

[railiner]

The Greyhound website, is okay in most cases for purchasing tickets and planning trips. But beware, if you don't know your geography and what goes where, it can produce the most convoluted and expensive ways to get from here to there....
If you have the time, see for yourself...Look up travel from New York, Penn Station to Allentown, Pa. for example.
There are many other bizarre routings.
Apparently, the software is programmed to come up with some kind of routing to sell, regardless of how weird it is. And if there is a direct bus that Greyhound cannot sell, it won't tell you that, but rather, come up with something that it can sell you.
I see people almost everyday travelling from New York to Newburgh. Since Greyhound cannot sell Short Line (Coach USA), that originate in New York, they will send people on Adirondack Trailways, transferring in Kingston. They must wonder what's going on as they pass by Newburgh's Thruway exit enroute, only to finally reach there a couple of hours later...
And depending on time of day, they will sometimes route a passenger from New York up to New Paltz to transfer to a bus going to Long Island....

[Swadian Hardcore]

The Greyhound website, is okay in most cases for purchasing tickets and planning trips. But beware, if you don't know your geography and what goes where, it can produce the most convoluted and expensive ways to get from here to there....
If you have the time, see for yourself...Look up travel from New York, Penn Station to Allentown, Pa. for example.
There are many other bizarre routings.
Apparently, the software is programmed to come up with some kind of routing to sell, regardless of how weird it is. And if there is a direct bus that Greyhound cannot sell, it won't tell you that, but rather, come up with something that it can sell you.
I see people almost everyday travelling from New York to Newburgh. Since Greyhound cannot sell Short Line (Coach USA), that originate in New York, they will send people on Adirondack Trailways, transferring in Kingston. They must wonder what's going on as they pass by Newburgh's Thruway exit enroute, only to finally reach there a couple of hours later...
And depending on time of day, they will sometimes route a passenger from New York up to New Paltz to transfer to a bus going to Long Island....

But GLI 4691 is the only run that shows up on Greyhound's site when you search New York-Allentown. That bus makes it in 2:40, good enough for me! I know 4691 goes through to Pittsburgh.

[railiner]

The Greyhound website, is okay in most cases for purchasing tickets and planning trips. But beware, if you don't know your geography and what goes where, it can produce the most convoluted and expensive ways to get from here to there....
If you have the time, see for yourself...Look up travel from New York, Penn Station to Allentown, Pa. for example.
There are many other bizarre routings.
Apparently, the software is programmed to come up with some kind of routing to sell, regardless of how weird it is. And if there is a direct bus that Greyhound cannot sell, it won't tell you that, but rather, come up with something that it can sell you.
I see people almost everyday travelling from New York to Newburgh. Since Greyhound cannot sell Short Line (Coach USA), that originate in New York, they will send people on Adirondack Trailways, transferring in Kingston. They must wonder what's going on as they pass by Newburgh's Thruway exit enroute, only to finally reach there a couple of hours later...
And depending on time of day, they will sometimes route a passenger from New York up to New Paltz to transfer to a bus going to Long Island....

But GLI 4691 is the only run that shows up on Greyhound's site when you search New York-Allentown. That bus makes it in 2:40, good enough for me! I know 4691 goes through to Pittsburgh.

Right...as long as you look from New York, NY as you did....
but this time look from New York, Penn Station to Allentown, and tell me what you see.....

[fairviewroad]

Right...as long as you look from New York, NY as you did....
but this time look from New York, Penn Station to Allentown, and tell me what you see.....

Well, it'd be a great mileage run if such a thing existed in the world of Greyhound! New York to Allentown via Binghamton!

[Swadian Hardcore]

The Greyhound website, is okay in most cases for purchasing tickets and planning trips. But beware, if you don't know your geography and what goes where, it can produce the most convoluted and expensive ways to get from here to there....
If you have the time, see for yourself...Look up travel from New York, Penn Station to Allentown, Pa. for example.
There are many other bizarre routings.
Apparently, the software is programmed to come up with some kind of routing to sell, regardless of how weird it is. And if there is a direct bus that Greyhound cannot sell, it won't tell you that, but rather, come up with something that it can sell you.
I see people almost everyday travelling from New York to Newburgh. Since Greyhound cannot sell Short Line (Coach USA), that originate in New York, they will send people on Adirondack Trailways, transferring in Kingston. They must wonder what's going on as they pass by Newburgh's Thruway exit enroute, only to finally reach there a couple of hours later...
And depending on time of day, they will sometimes route a passenger from New York up to New Paltz to transfer to a bus going to Long Island....

But GLI 4691 is the only run that shows up on Greyhound's site when you search New York-Allentown. That bus makes it in 2:40, good enough for me! I know 4691 goes through to Pittsburgh.

Right...as long as you look from New York, NY as you did....
but this time look from New York, Penn Station to Allentown, and tell me what you see.....

Oh, yeah, then I have to go through Binghamton and Hazleton! That's ain't no good!

[Exiled in Express]

Bieber does serve 30th St Station to Reading, albeit Megabus style pulling up to a curb opposite the station. I have considered it and seen it board once but never opted for it. I take the Keystone to Lancaster and get a ride from there. There is backtracking nut the drivers are familar with the route so I stay with it.

[Swadian Hardcore]

Bieber should be fine for a ride like that, though.