Without giving too many details of my location, I sometimes have to commute to NYC from upstate NY the east side of the Hudson. Besides driving all the way there are 2 reasonable options, Amtrak and Metro North. Amtrak I have down but is expensive and reserved for bad waether and/or when penn station would be advantagous, MN I am not sure what is the best way to go.
What I do now: When I head south I usually travel the TSP, starting north of rt 84, quite a bit north. I will take to the end to the Bronx River parkway at the traffic circle, then to the White Plains M.N. Train station, parking is right off the bronx river so it is easy to get to. Other pluses for W.P. is that there are plenty of trains, and due to the distance I have to travel it is hard to try to catch a specfic train, so here it just get the next train in, there are many expresses where Grand Central is the 2nd stop (after 125th). Another advantage is all my car travel is in the direction I want to go.
But I know there are many other stations and I would like to know if perhaps another would be better, ones I might think might be better or at least competative are White Plains North, or the 2 closest along rt 84, in Bruster and Beacon. I have no idea how any of these stations are set up in terms of access and parking, and havn’t looked that much into sceduals.
It’s been a while since I’ve spent time in that area, but how far are you from Poughkeepsie? Plenty of parking at the Metro North station there. Amtrak is way expensive, and I don’t think significantly faster.
How far East of the Hudson are you? MNRR also has the Port Jervis and Spring Valley lines which run via NJ Transit to Hoboken, whereupon you can take the PATH to NYC. Here is a map. You can click on any station on that map to get directions and parking information.
You know, I just realized that I forgot which way is East and which way is West. Obviously you don’t want the Port Jervis and Spring Valley lines if you’re East of the Hudson. I’m stoopid. But still, have fun clicking on those stations you’re interested in.
Poughkeepsee might be an option If I start going to W.P. and road conditions are not good, but cutting across from the TSP looks like it has a congestion potential - something I will have to try to know for sure. I have also considered changing trains in pough. from Amtrak to MN to save a few $$$ on occation.
As you pointed out I am on the other sdie of the river and the western MN lines are impractical, due to the distance involved, and especially the turning back on itself of the Pt Jervice line, I never really considered this a commuting option, more like a day trip to NYC.