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My nephew is about to start college in New Haven, CT and I'm looking into the best way for an 18 year old to get from there to family on Long Island using mass transit. Is Amtrak better than Metro North for the Connecticut portion? What's the best way to get from Grand Central to Penn Station to pick up the LIRR? It's been a while since I was a frequent mass transit user in the NYC area, so I appreciate any advice.
Thanks!!!
MetroNorth is cheaper and runs a lot more often between NY and New Haven since it is a commuter line. Amtrak is nice but more expensive but then you have the convienance of switching from the LIRR to Amtrak right in the same station since they both run out of Penn.
As long as your nephew has the time he can either jump on the subway, bus or cab uptown to get to Grand Central and pickup MetroNorth there.
Here's a link to fares for Metro North between NYC and New Haven
http://as0.mta.nyc.ny.us/mnr/fares/get_fares.cfm
As for Amtrak, it looks like fares for the NorthEast Regional train runs between $35-50 one way depending on the time of day.
Hope that helps!
Metro North is totally the way to go. More options as far as train times and way cheaper. Not sure when he's traveling and what he's bringing, but be aware there are bike restrictions during certain hours.