Amtrak to BWI question

If one take Amtrak to BWI, (assuming the train is on time) how much time do you need to allow between arriving at the BWI station to flight take off time?

Thanks

There is a shuttle bus to go from the station to the airport next door.the main question is how long will it take to check in, go through Security and get to your gate at the airport itself. I myself would allow 2-3 hours.

3 hours to be sure in case of any delays on the NEC.

The shuttle bus isn't the frequentest and it's a longish ride. Presumably riding to Baltimore Penn and taking the Light Rail to the airport takes even longer (45 minutes on a good day and you're at the international terminal, I think) but it sure feels like forever when you're waiting for that dang shuttlebus and then sweating the whole ride.

I don't know about three hours, though, depends how far along NEC you're traveling. Union Station DC? It's a less than 27 minute ride to BWI on Amtrak so you could just show up and use your phone to buy a ticket on whatever's smoking. There's also MARC but it's an hour ride, uncomfortable, and doesn't run on weekends.

I've done this several times, allowing at least 2 hours is a good idea but I like more cushion just in case amtrak is running late. The shuttle is very convenient. MARC has some weekend service now if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, MARC has weekend service now, which is awesome.

Depending on when the flight is, I would was to be at the airport 120-90 mins before flight time (BWI is actually my home airport). Back that up 10 mins for the shuttle ride and 20 mins for the longest possible shuttle wait and you want to be getting off the train 2-2.5 hours before flight time. Padding on top of that is at your discretion based on from how far you are traveling.

Bus Nut said:

The shuttle bus isn't the frequentest and it's a longish ride. Presumably riding to Baltimore Penn and taking the Light Rail to the airport takes even longer (45 minutes on a good day and you're at the international terminal, I think) but it sure feels like forever when you're waiting for that dang shuttlebus and then sweating the whole ride.

I don't know about three hours, though, depends how far along NEC you're traveling. Union Station DC? It's a less than 27 minute ride to BWI on Amtrak so you could just show up and use your phone to buy a ticket on whatever's smoking. There's also MARC but it's an hour ride, uncomfortable, and doesn't run on weekends.

Click to expand...

The (free) shuttle bus at BWI runs every 12 minutes between the train and the airport terminal from 5 AM to 1 AM, although it can get delayed in traffic. So figure on 15+ minutes for a buffer. The shuttle bus only takes about 8-10 minutes to get to the terminal, which I don't consider a longish ride.

MARC added weekend Penn Line service from DC to Baltimore over a year ago. Proven to be quite popular. Schedule is light with 9 trains on Saturday and 6 on Sunday, so it may not match up well with flight departure times from BWI. But MARC takes 35 minutes from WAS to BWI, not an hour, and uses typical commuter train equipment and seats which are fine for a 35 minute or hour trip IMO.

With a Richmond location, I'm guessing the OP is taking Amtrak from Richmond, so he is presumably taking a Virginia Regional to BWI, not MARC from DC Union Station.

Some of the rush hour MARC trains take much less than an hour to go from DC to BWI. I think some rides are as short as 34 minutes.

I believe there is also a bus that runs hourly from the Greenbelt Metro station to BWI. This might prove more convenient on weekends.

There are no MARC trips WAS-BWI that take anything close to an hour.

The B30 bus runs from Greenbelt every 40 minutes, but unless you live in Greenbelt or somewhere near that end of the green line, the train will be much more convenient.

Between 2008 and 2011 I probably did this trip 100-150 times. I flew out of Southwest.

Typically if I showed up at BWI train station an hour before my flight I had PLENTY of time to get to the airport, get dinner and get on my flight.

That said 90 minutes is probably a bit better.

SWA was the first stop on the shuttle at the airport and the security lines were never long, even before I had A status. (this was typically flying out on a Friday evening, around 8:30 PM).

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

The purpose of my question is that I am going to Toronto to ride VIA Rail to Vancouver. The BWI airport has a non-stop flight, so I plan to take Amtrak from RVR to BWI. Amtrak has two trains (6 a.m. & 8 a.m.) that start at RVR and I was hoping to not leave at 6 a.m. The 8 a.m. train will get me to BWI 5 hours before my flight departs.

I will return to RVR via Amtrak.

Yep, the 5 hours from RVR *should* be sufficient.

You can pull up the Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database (we gotta come up with a shorter name for that) and see exactly when that train has arrived at BWI in the past to get even more comfortable with that.

You're definitely wise to take a Regional as opposed to a long distance train going north. The long distance trains have much greater likelihood of being delayed in the 6-24 hours before they reach RVR. For the return trip you do have the ability if necessary to take a Regional to DC and connect to a long distance train if need be.

They also don't stop at BWI, necessitating a transfer at some point.

StriderGDM said:

Between 2008 and 2011 I probably did this trip 100-150 times. I flew out of Southwest.

Typically if I showed up at BWI train station an hour before my flight I had PLENTY of time to get to the airport, get dinner and get on my flight.

That said 90 minutes is probably a bit better.

SWA was the first stop on the shuttle at the airport and the security lines were never long, even before I had A status. (this was typically flying out on a Friday evening, around 8:30 PM).

Click to expand...

Everything at BWI was different than your experience post-9/11/2001 for at least one or two years. I found security queues extending out and around the building, with waits of nearly an hour or more just to get onto the concourses.

RyanS said:

Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database (we gotta come up with a shorter name for that)

Click to expand...

AmStatus Database?

jebr said:

RyanS said:

Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database (we gotta come up with a shorter name for that)

Click to expand...

AmStatus Database?

Click to expand...

ASMAD (as mad as ???)

Yeah I'd like a shorter name, too.

AM-SMAD?

Or, the SMD?

Someone on here must be a marketing person & not a scientist....

ASMAD is good, too. Seems shortest.