Hi I am planning on doing the trip in reverse, picking up the 11:59PM train to Chicago from Buffalo Depew, whats the best way to get there by public transport from the US side of Niagara Falls on a Sunday evening? Greyhound show a service Niagara Falls to Chicago transferring at Buffalo at 10:45 PM but wont allow me to book just to Buffalo as carrier is NYT(?)
We have very little actual Greyhound in upstate NY. You can figure out who the actual bus company is for Greyhound routes here:
http://extranet.greyhound.com/revsup/pfsm/carriers.html
In this case, it's NY Trailways.
http://www.trailwaysny.com/
NY Trailways
stinks as a service. They don't put all their schedules online, so in order to find out the schedule and locations you'd have to call them:
http://www.trailwaysny.com/html/english/pop_up_fares_faq2.asp#cities
Finally, as noted previously, the Buffalo Trailways station is many miles away from the Amtrak station.
In short, this will not work for you.
Local bus service won't work for you either, it's designed for commuters only.
but I cant find any information on who what NYT is and how to book tickets and would an hour be enough time to grab a taxi to Depew station and what would the costs be?
Enough time (about 30 minutes). And how much do you expect a 30-mile taxi ride to cost? This site:
http://www.taxifarefinder.com/rates.php
Says it'll be about $100. (Remember you have to tip.) This may be a lowball estimate, I'd expect it to cost a bit more.
Pretty expensive, but I've spent that sort of money on taxis on occasion.
Sorry Im a Brit so pretty clueless on US states and names etc
First, remember to calibrate your perspective using Google directions to check distances. New York State is larger than the UK.
The other alternative you have, instead of taking a taxi for 30 miles, is to take Amtrak from the Amtrak Niagara Falls station to Buffalo-Depew -- or, better, further east, to Rochester or Utica.
If you've got the time and like trains, this is a very nice option as you get to see more of upstate NY. Hang out in Rochester or Utica for a few hours. Utica is a proper small town with a classic downtown train station. Rochester is a proper 19th century American industrial city; the train station isn't original, but it's downtown and there's lots of local color within walking distance. (The Buffalo-Depew and Syracuse train stations are in much less interesting locations; the cities are interesting but you'd have to run around them by taxi.)
From either city you can then catch Amtrak back west to Chicago. This would take up an extra day, or at least half a day, though, since the last train east from Niagara Falls leaves at 2:30 PM on Sunday, and at 12:35PM on all other days.
Look at Amtrak's "Empire Service" schedules to see your options; there are three trains east from Niagara Falls each day.
The Amtrak Niagara Falls station isn't next to the Falls but it's not far away, a 3 mile taxi ride rather than a 30 mile ride.