First Time At Washington Union Station

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TrainLoverJoy

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Kalamazoo, Mi.
Where in the building is the Acela Lounge? And will someone lead me to the gate/track for boarding, as they do in other lounges? (After taking the Capitol Limited to DC, will be taking the Cardinal back to Chicago.)
 
Wooden door under the stairs leading to the garage. Right in the center of the gates (f and g or g and f?). Doorbell to the right to get in.

Yes, you'll get an escort to the train.
 
The station may seem overwhelming at first but once you've started wandering about, it all comes together pretty quick and easy. When you are called to board your train, you will be led out a side door into anteroom between the platforms and main waiting room. In my 2 cases when I was boarding a Silver it was then a choice of trotting down the stairs or taking an elevator down.
 
Acela150 said:
I suggest getting a Red Cap for train 29. The one time I boarded 29 at WAS it was on Track 15 which is a long long walk to the Sleepers.
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Ditto! The redcap will take you from the door by the Lounge ( tell the desk clerk when you check in) on their cart right to your car before the thundering herd, and will even take any luggage you have to your room if you desire!
 
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If coming in by cab - you should see a restaurant in main hall to your left - just keep walking straight - you will go through a set of doors - you will see Amtrak ticketing on your left - walk past that through another hallway ( to right of ticketing ) - then make a left - you will see information desk - Acela lounge is directly behind that. As mentioned - on right side by right door look for a small doorbell - you will be buzzed in.

Construction to repair ceiling from earthquake damage is ongoing - you'll see this as soon as you walk through doors by cab stand.

To right of Acela lounge attendant desk is a storage area for baggage - it does not have an attendant - between sleeper and Acela riders it can fill up fast.

Once you take 1 trip through station - it is fairly easy to get your bearings - basically if walking through main hall just keep walking straight to find Amtrak.

Taking down escalator or stairs by Amtrak ticketing will get you to a large food court.

Unlike Chicago Metropolitan Lounge - you will not be given a pass to show every time to reenter lounge. Outside food also is not welcomed inside Washington lounge.
 
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1) I think she's arriving on 29 one day and departing on 51 another day, so no red cap needed to get to 29. However, taking a red cap FROM 30 to the lounge might be an idea just to get her bearings before she heads out of the station on her arrival.

2) When I was there in Oct 2014, the luggage room had been "moved" to a room to the right. This may have been temporary or because the other room was full.
 
Thanks for the tips! Although many first-time stations were easy to navigate......Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Emeryville, Tucson etc., Chicago and L.A. were not!......so I thought I would familiarize myself a little before arriving at Washington.

After many trips west, this is my first trip east.....and first on a viewliner. (As has been discussed many times here, not looking forward to the toilet in the roomette.....but we'll see how it goes......)
 
RRRick said:
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Club Acela 1_tn.jpg
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Acela Club Washington DC Union Station_tn.jpg
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Pictures (with the arrows) are a great help......thanks!
 
It actually is very easy to find and even if you do get lost, there are enough Cops and various Amtrak folks and other workers around to point you straight away to it.
 
one thing I noticed on my trip there in October is that I could not find an ATM in the station...there was a cardboard cutout that said one was planned, however.
 
AmtrakBlue I was just there a bit over a week ago. This is why I stated = "To right of Acela lounge attendant desk is a storage area for baggage - it does not have an attendant - between sleeper and Acela riders it can fill up fast." Personal recent experience.
 
Devil's Advocate said:
Every time I read a thread like this I'm left wondering why Amtrak doesn't offer station maps like airlines and airports do.
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Agreed. Amtrak should provide station maps on their website for the major system stations: NYP, WAS, PHL, CHI, LAX, and so on. Especially for NYP. The maps should be both shown on the screen, as PDF files and should be easy to find on the station info page.

Perhaps this is something NARP can prod Amtrak on.
 
I agree about having station maps, even for simple stations, would be a great help. Sometimes info about stations is a little hard to find. Info on public transportation, rental cars, taxi, food, ATM, etc. is important for travelers.

Chicago and New York seam to be very hard stations to navigate. Philadelphia, for a big station, is very easy. Washington is not too bad but with the mall areas, it could be a little confusing, but once you find the "train" area, it is easy.
 
The reason why 30th Street is easy to get around is simple. It's a food court, Amtrak Stairways and Waiting, Ticketing, and the Upper Level is Septa. It's easy to find your way around there.
 
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