The seats are plush, there’s an attendant offering you food, there’s streaming music, WiFi and you can stretch out your legs…Welcome to LINE, the new venture from Trailways running up to stops in New Paltz, Kingston, Woodstock, Phoenicia and Hunter. It’s touted as “Bus, meet Business Class. Business Class, meet Bus.”
“Currently, Line will run each weekend through the end of October,” wrote Trailways’ Hurley-based Line-specific Business Development & Media Coordinator, Joshua A. Queen. “Line came about in response to overwhelming market demand for a higher level of service out of New York City.”
The new buses look different from your usual Pine Hill Trailways fare; they’re dark grey, with tinted glass. Branded with the snappy Line logo. Moderne, in a graphic style.
“Line is a modified top of the line, Prevost H345, complete with a brand new, custom designed galley for an en-route experience akin to that of business class air travel; complete with dedicated onboard attendant and guide,” Queen wrote in exquisite press-release-ese. “LINE also offers passengers premium WiFi and onboard entertainment package that allows passengers to stream music and movies… Passengers will have access to uninterrupted streaming music and movies through a cloud-based entertainment system.”
Furthermore, the trip will be faster and less Trailways-like than the usual routes. Instead of having to deal with Port Authority, the Manhattan stop for the route, which heads north on Thursdays and Fridays, and south on Saturdays and Sundays, is at the northeast corner of 31st Street and 8th Avenue, outside Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, across from the grand old post office that will one day house a new Moynihan Station as New Yorfk City’s Amtrak stop.
Heading north, Line stops at the New Paltz park and ride, the Kingston park and ride, outside of Hamilton and Adams at the corner of Fair and John streets in Uptown Kingston, at the Woodstock Village Green, outside Sweet Sue’s and then Graham & Co. in Phoenicia, and finally at Scribner’s Lodge in Hunter.
Forget the old bus stations.
So how’s he anticipating the response, we asked.
“The response has been incredible!” Queen replied. “From New York City, to commuters, the market is already imploring Line to expand into commuter service between the Hudson Valley and Midtown Manhattan.”
Current buses leave 31st and 8th Avenue in Manhattan at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday and Friday through October 31 and arrive in Woodstock at 7:40 p.m., Phoenicia at 8:05 p.m., and Hunter by 8:45 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays they depart Hunter at 1:20 p.m., Phoenicia at 1:40 p.m., Woodstock at 2:05 p.m., and Kingston at about 2:30 p.m. Prices are “from $39” each way to and from New Paltz and Kingston, and “from $45” to and from Woodstock, Phoenicia and Hunter. That’s all according to the website, which is where one also buys Line’s digital-only tickets, can learn about the various snacks, drinks and streaming music and video brands it provides, and see pictures of an online host.
For more, and tickets, visit RideWithLine.com…and look out for those sleek new buses each weekend.
Join the family! 
