Hot Wheels

Who needs the Chinatown bus when you have LimoLiner? On Oct. 3, yet another company began vying for the business of New York weekend-hoppers. A luxury service aimed at CEOs and other high-rollers weary of traditional New York-Boston options, LimoLiner is nevertheless an elitist treat available to the executives-in-training here at Harvard.

“Our competition is with the Acela train and the [Delta and US Airways] shuttle, not the Chinatown bus,” says LimoLiner representative Leighann Gardiner. Indeed, unlike the frugal Fung Wah, LimoLiner is on par in price with flying. But unlike the shuttle, it boasts the advantage of coming right into Manhattan instead of stranding you in Queens.

Reserve your seat online (www.limoliner.com) via a blueprint; by seating 28 passengers instead of the standard 55, LimoLiner guarantees roominess. Once you’re on board, pass the time with two live TV channels broadcasting business and news, a DVD movie, and five audio channels. There’s also a designated quiet zone where no cell phones are allowed.

Much like a plane, a flight attendant offers free snacks and non-alcoholic drinks; unlike a plane, there are seat-side outlets and free WiFi and Ethernet access. LimoLiner mastermind Fergus McCann, former chairman of the Celtic Football Club in Scotland, put up a reported $2 million to get those wheels rolling. The painfully sleek website quotes McCann on his vision: “I started LimoLiner because I believe civilized traveling is not a privilege, but a right.” That right is available to the tune of $138 round trip, and is leaving from a very plebeian Hilton Hotel, either in Boston or New York, near you.