Harvey Botzman
Lake Shore Limited (NYC to Chicago train) Accepts Bicycle Rack Reservations
By Harvey Botzman
September 20, 2016
Finally, finally! New York State bicyclists seeking to bicycle tour without using a car have a wonderful option, loading their bike on to Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited train and alighting at selected stations along the route from New York City to Chicago without having to box their bicycle.
To use Amtrak’s Trainside Checked Bicycle Service a bicyclist must reserve a bicycle rack when reserving a seat on the Lake Shore Limited. There is a $20.00 fee for this service. The fee favorably compares with purchasing a bike box and having the “bicycle in a box” transported in the train’s baggage car.
There are only 6 bicycle racks on the Lake Shore Ltd. If all the bike racks are reserved, then the
bicyclist has the option of boxing the bike and having it shipped in the Lake Shore Ltd. baggage car.
Both the embarking and alighting station along the Lake Shore’s route must have checked baggage service. In New York State the Amtrak stations with this service are: New York City Penn Station, Albany-Rensselaer, Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo-Depew. Stations with Trainside Checked Bicycle Service west of New York State are: Cleveland OH, Toledo OH, and Chicago IL. At the current time, east of New York State, Trainside Checked Bicycle Service is only available at the Springfield MA station.
After track work, platform extensions, and elevator/escalator repairs are completed at the Albany-Rensselaer and Boston-South stations then those stations will be added to the list of stations accepting reservations for the Lake Shore Limited’s Trainside Checked Baggage Service.
The New York Bicycling Coalition anticipates the demand for Trainside Checked Bicycle Service on the Lake Shore Limited will exceed the 1000 bike rack reservations the Carry-On Bicycle Service Amtrak’s Capital Limited train (Washington DC to Chicago) received in a three-month period.
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT)
finances the other train routes in New York State: Empire Service, Adirondack,
Maple Leaf, and Ethan Allen. The NYS DOT needs to release, to Amtrak, $400,000
the Legislature allocated for bicycle racks on those trains. Without those
funds Amtrak cannot begin to retro-fit its passenger cars with bike racks.
These trains will have Carry-On Bicycle
Service where the bicyclist will roll/carry their bicycle directly into the
passenger cars and hang their bicycle on a rack in the passenger car. Carry-On Bicycle Service allows a bicyclist
to embark from and alight to any station platform on a train’s route. Carry-On Bicycle Service is a more flexible bicycle carriage service and would only encourage more bicyclists to
bicycle tour throughout the State. Particularly many of the downstate bicyclists who regularly neither own nor use a motor vehicle.