Ease and convinience are attracting more travelors to bus and rail this coming holiday weekend. I’m 22news reporter Duncan MacLean with the options available to you at Springfield’s Union Station…

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The countdown is on to the unofficial start of summer as Memorial Day weekend presents a chance to get away for most and Springfield is well-equipped to get you where you need to go.

Springfield Union Station is your gateway to the Northeast and beyond this Memorial Day weekend. AAA is forecasting a six-percent increase in train, bus, and cruise travel, and New England is marked as a trending destination for rail vacations.

Congressman Richard Neal told 22News, “It is remarkable to see just how busy this is. On the corridor, 91 or the turnpike we are the center of New England.”

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is one of the most scenic in the country with direct access from Springfield to the Hartford Line, the Valley Flyer, and the Vermonter along with easy connections to 17 additional regional lines that can get you east-west anywhere from Chicago to Boston or North, South from Toronto to Orlando.

There’s more than just trains to catch at Springfield Union Station, a robust bus schedule can expand your holiday reach even further.

“We go as far as DC. We do have interline partners meaning you can travel to Albany on Peter Pan then travel farther with another company as far as Buffalo, Detroit, across the country really,” said Don Soja, Vice President of Operations at Peter Pan.

Both the vast networks of Peter Pan and Greyhound buses are available at Union Station, a perfect way to avoid the headaches of traffic as you travel for Memorial Day. This, of course, is all in addition to the consistent service available with the PVTA for safe travels.