New arrangement to speed train to New York
A new arrangement with the U.S. means the one train from Montreal to New York every day will not have to be searched in Saint-Lambert, this being done in Montreal before departure.
But what about the long wait at the border? A thing that really drags that trip out, and makes it 11 instead of the 6 or 7 it could be, is the train stopping at the border while everyone’s interviewed (and, from my observation, everyone who isn’t white is brought to a separate car for extra searching and intensive questioning). That’s the thing they need to fix.
Later note: mucho clarification in the comments.
Matt 16:34 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
Seriously, that delay at the border is the only reason my friends and I still drive to New York.
MB 17:13 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
It looks like the agreement means the train won’t stop at all between Montreal and Plattsburgh and both US (departures) and Canadian (arrivals) customs inspections will be done at Central Station.
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/safety/customs-relief-in-sight-for-amtraks-adirondack.html?channel=
ant6n 17:23 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
The border check is at Rouses Point, not St Lambert. However, if they do border pre-clearance in Montreal (like they do for the Vancouver-US train), then the train cannot stop in St Lambert.
The border stop used to be scheduled for about an hour. Plus, it seems the schedule had a lot of padding on it – even if the border stop took an hour and half, the train could still arrive on time. The pre-clearance is good news, they could potentially shave 90-120 minutes of the 11:05/11:10 journey. I think they may have some track improvements coming up as well, which might reduce times a bit further. And let’s hope they won’t increase prices too much.
Btw, they didn’t take any non-white person somewhere else. What they did is move everybody who is not a Canadian or US citizen into the cafe car, where they do they actual immigration/customs clearance. This also includes white people (like meself).
MB 17:28 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
The Cascades train to/from Vancouver still stops at the border, whereas this agreement wouldn’t make that necessary for the Adirondack.
Kate 17:31 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
I wonder why the Radio-Canada piece mentions St-Lambert, then. I recall them stopping there to pick a few people up, but not for a lengthy wait.
anton, you’re probably right, but the effect on trains I’ve been on has been to see a trail of non-white people dragging their goods down the train to a separate car.
ant6n 17:36 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
Well, there may be a tendency that the non-white people get a more rigoruous check than the whites – but I believe that’s cuz the whites tend to be Europeans on the Visa Waiver program, whereas the non-whites tend to be people from the middle East, Africa or Haiti, with a slightly more complicated border process.
ant6n 17:37 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
I am just saying that your statement seemed to imply the possibility of some sort of racial profiling, which may not actually be what’s going on.
Kate 17:41 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
You may be right. I don’t know how we’d prove this either way, but over the years my impression has also been that nonwhite friends (with Canadian passports) routinely get a tougher grilling at that border.
walkerp 17:54 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
I’m confused, but I think this is good news. So to sum up, this specific southbound train will not stop at the border?
Kate 18:07 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
walkerp, going by MB’s link, I think so. The initial report I blogged was not so clear.
ant6n 18:08 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
more info: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Soon-a-shorter-trek-by-track-to-Montreal-3550150.php
tentative agreement
pre-clearance in Mtl, Quebec will pay for the facility
may be operational in December
St Lambert will be cancelled
Marc 20:58 on 2012/05/11 Permalink
We’ve had border preclearance at airports for decades, surely it can be done for trains?
That agreement is reciprocal, so Canada can set up preclearance facilities in the US if it wanted to.
Spock 07:42 on 2012/05/12 Permalink
11 hours to go to NYC from here! Argh, just drive and save yourselves the pain… Or fly but that’s a little expensive depending on the time of the year.
As for separating all non-white people. I doubt that’s true… To harsh. But then from the Americans, who knows what to expect.
FWIW, our own border agents are not exactly angels either…
Kate 09:05 on 2012/05/12 Permalink
Driving to NYC means having to do something with your vehicle when you get there. Manhattan isn’t a great place to have to cope with a car – it’s also so walkable and has such good transit that you don’t remotely need a car while you’re there. So that’s not a great solution either.
I know our border agents are not angels. Obviously the job requires a certain frame of mind, no matter who you’re working for. I was merely describing a pattern I’d seen on the train multiple times over some years of casual travelling.
jeather 10:41 on 2012/05/12 Permalink
The bus isn’t even 11 hours. The problem with the NYC train is not just that it’s half a day, it’s that it essentially takes 2 days of travel for a round trip (a bus can be overnight, a plane is much faster), so if your time is even slightly valuable, you’re not going to use it — even paying for parking in Manhattan, or parking in Queens and taking the subway in — is faster.
ant6n 11:03 on 2012/05/12 Permalink
If they bring travel times down to 9/10 hours consistently, they could use the two trainsets they are using now to offer two departures per day instead of one – one travelling during the day, and another travelling throughout the night.
Jack 12:54 on 2012/05/12 Permalink
OMG I did this once two years after 9-11 and it was hilarious.Machine gun toting security agents interviewing CEGEP teachers heading to see Broadway musicals. My favourite bit of repartee was when someone asked a security guard if he was aware that their were 11 million undocumented aliens in his country.Two and half hours we were off and I have taken the bus ever since.
Spock 17:54 on 2012/05/12 Permalink
Driving in Manhattan is awesome… I love to keep up and one up those yellow cabs when I am there…
I usually get FULL insurance with 0 deductible when I do that though :)
But seriously, with all the crap one goes to in order to visit the States, I ask myself, is it worth it… Canada has so much more stuff to see and do; unless of course you want something like California or Florida. But in that case you can do better in any Mediterranean country or in Costa Rica (respectively).
My 2 euro-cents. :P
Robert J 08:36 on 2012/05/15 Permalink
It’s still a better deal to drive. Just park in White Plains, NY and take a Metro North train. No need to drive all the way into the city. The train costs more and takes longer. What they really need is an express that stops only in Albany.