Premium New York-Boston Bus Service Expands

Business travelers looking for a premium alternative to rail and air service between New York and Boston will benefit from luxury ground transportation firm LimoLiner Inc.'s expanded schedule of departures from both cities. The Stoughton, Mass.-based company—which operates a luxury over-the-road passenger service between Midtown Manhattan and Boston's historic Back Bay section using custom-built, state-of-the-art coaches—will on Nov. 1 begin operating under a new schedule made possible by the recent addition of two new vehicles to the company fleet.

The revised timetable sees five LimoLiner departures from Boston between 6 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and five departures from New York between 7:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. every Monday and Friday. On each of the remaining days of the business week, there are a minimum of four departures from each city, while on Saturdays and Sundays there are mostly three but no less than two departures from each city.

"We're pleased to respond to our customers' requests for additional departures with these two new Liners," LimoLiner CEO Peter Pescatore said in announcing the company's acquisition of two new coaches in July.

"LimoLiner's passenger base has grown rapidly since our launch as more people experience the service," he said. "These two new vehicles will enable even more people to enjoy the LimoLiner at departure times that are convenient for their work and leisure schedules."

Four-year-old LimoLiner is the creation of Fergus McCann, a Scottish-born businessman who, frustrated by poor service he encountered during air and rail travel, decided he could do better.

LimoLiner experienced 32 percent passenger growth last year over 2004, and Pescatore said the company anticipates it will finish this year with double-digit percentage growth from 2005 levels.

Traveling between the Hilton New York and the Hilton Back Bay hotels, with one stop at the Sheraton Framingham—about a half-hour outside Boston—LimoLiner coaches make the 190-mile trip between the cities in an average of four and a half hours. The fare is $79 one way, with discounts offered for same-day round trips.

"The primary benefit of traveling with LimoLiner is that you're in a full-sized, high-cube 45-foot motorcoach that normally would carry 56 passengers but which we've custom built for just 28 passengers," Pescatore said. "The 28 seats are individual leather armchair recliners. Each one has a footrest, a tray table, an electric socket and a socket for cell phones."

Each coach offers constant cell phone reception and two onboard routers that provide high-speed wireless Internet service, DVD movies, live satellite TV, and satellite radio. "Typically if we have 15 or 18 people on board, three-quarters of them will be working on their laptops," Pescatore said. "The other fabulous accoutrement that we have is an onboard attendant who provides seat-side delivery of beverages, snacks, and our light meal service. Beverages and snacks are available at any time. Everything is inclusive in the price."

Cell phone use is the rear three rows of each coach, which are designated as quiet areas and separated from the others by the vehicle's galley and restroom.

While inclement weather or traffic jams caused by accidents occasionally result in delays, Pescatore said, LimoLiner coaches arrive at their destinations on schedule 93 percent of the time, according to recently compiled quarterly statistics.

Pescatore said LimoLiner customers tend to be from small and midmarket companies, especially creative design, financial services and legal firms.

Preliminary plans are being made for a New York-Washington, D.C., LimoLiner route, but that, Pescatore stressed, is still several years away. In the more immediate future, he said, LimoLiner plans to add two or three more vehicles to its fleet in the next year or two. "We want to get to a place where we're leaving comfortably every two hours from early morning through early evening," he said.

"We're never going to be mass transit and we don't intend to be. We position ourselves as an alternative, elegant, relaxing way to travel between Boston and New York."