Peter Pan Flies From The Elm City

I assume the CTTransit route is subsidized. When Shoreline East started, the commuter bus was ended, although for many it was faster and more convenient than the train. I don't know where the Middletown stop is, but otherwise the route seems exactly the same as the train. So why when transportation funds are so limited, do we have both?

The service sucked.

1644-
The Shoreline East train stops are not like the bus route. The SHoreline East as the name implies stops at all the towns on the shoreline east of new haven. Branford, Guilford, Madison, CLinton, Westbrook, Old Saybrook and New LOndon. The SHoreline East train does not stop or has ever stopped in Middletown or Hartford or any towns along I91. The new CT rail train ervice does mimic the stops that Amtrak services which do not include Middletown. (Wallingford, Meriden, Berlin,Hartford, Windsor, Windsor Locks, Springfield). The state will be adding more stops in the future which are not serviced by Amtrak. Some people prefer the train when given the option because it's more of a status/elitist thing.

Branford: I am guessing you haven't lived in Branford long. The commuter bus I was referring to was the Shoreline bus, which, among other stops, stopped at. the Cherry Hill commuter lot. Commuter buses, along with the car pool lots, were started after the 1973 oil embargo. The bus service was terminated under Rowland after Shoreline East got going, even though the bus was more convenient for some.

Looking more closely at the bus route, it doesn't really go into Middletown, anyway, just stops at the highway exit by 91, which is pretty far from the city center. Obviously the bus routes are not going to be exactly what the rail routes are. They weren't for the shoreline routes, but the bus got stopped anyway.

You are definitely right about the class issue, but the commuter buses combatted that a bit with long distance style coaches rather than the multi-stop city style buses of CT Transit. To some extent, the old shoreline commuter buses have been replaced by Easystreet vans.

I've taken Peter Pan and Greyhound buses out of Union Station up to Canada, down to Delaware, but usually to NYC or Boston. The last trip home from Boston was a complete nightmare. Each time that happens, I swear it off, but the bus is just so damn cheap in comparison to everything else.

@BranfordResident when I do choose train over bus it's not "a status/elitist thing", it's a reliability thing. I can't tell you how many buses my wife and I have been on that broke down, were delayed for many hours, were so overbooked you weren't allowed to board, or just never showed up.

As far as comfort and safety is concerned, either Metro North, Shoreline East, or Amtrak beats taking the bus many times over. But that's another story.

1644- my bad i thought you were referring to the article which referenced the #950 commuter bus to Hartford. Shoreline East train tickets have Middletown as a destination even though it's not a stop .

I take the 950 bus. It is slightly different than the Hartford train line in that it stops in North Haven and Middletown, which the Hartford line doesn't as well as multiple stops in downtown New Haven and Hartford aside from just the train station. It is cheaper than the train and I'd rather be on a Peter Pan coach than on a decades old train car with locked bathrooms. Also, the bus is more reliable, just subject to traffic on I-91, which is more understandable to me than a train stopping in the middle of tracks for a reason unknown to me. Finally, the morning bus schedule from New Haven to Hartford makes more sense to me, with multiple runs from 7-8 am, while the Hartford line has zero trains from New Haven to Hartford during that time.
With Megabus having left New Haven, it's sad to lose another bus company.