Making a connection / Schedule times

Hello. I'm a novice train rider so I was hoping somone could offer some advice on whether or not I've come up with a realistic itinerary. I've got a ticket on the Regional (though I wish I could go on the Acela) from Boston to Philadelphia and then on the Pennsylvanian from Philadelphia to Harrisburg leaving 45 minutes after arriving from Boston. Considering those lines, are chances pretty good that I could make that connection? If not, is it a pretty simple process to exchange the ticket for the train I missed for the next one out?

Also, I was thinking of taking the family for a day trip on the train from here in my hometown of Fort Worth. What I'd like to do is ride out for a few hours and then turn around and come back in the same day. However, unless I'm reading the schedule wrong, it seems that in Fort Worth there's no train that you could leave on and be able to come back on another in the same day. Do these schedules have a pretty long shelf life or can I still hold out hope that maybe someday that Fort Worth will have a train leaving early in the day with another coming back from that direction later in the day?

Thanks.

griffitts said:

Hello. I'm a novice train rider so I was hoping somone could offer some advice on whether or not I've come up with a realistic itinerary. I've got a ticket on the Regional (though I wish I could go on the Acela) from Boston to Philadelphia and then on the Pennsylvanian from Philadelphia to Harrisburg leaving 45 minutes after arriving from Boston. Considering those lines, are chances pretty good that I could make that connection? If not, is it a pretty simple process to exchange the ticket for the train I missed for the next one out?
Also, I was thinking of taking the family for a day trip on the train from here in my hometown of Fort Worth. What I'd like to do is ride out for a few hours and then turn around and come back in the same day. However, unless I'm reading the schedule wrong, it seems that in Fort Worth there's no train that you could leave on and be able to come back on another in the same day. Do these schedules have a pretty long shelf life or can I still hold out hope that maybe someday that Fort Worth will have a train leaving early in the day with another coming back from that direction later in the day?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

If nothing on the northeast corridor goes wrong that day, you should make that connection.

For a day trip from fort worth it is difficult to go on amtrak. However you can go on Trinity Railway Express, which is a commuter train operation between Fort Worth and Dallas. There are multiple trips daily on this line. Check their schedules and fares at http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org/ .

For a day trip from fort worth it is difficult to go on amtrak.

Click to expand...

That is because each day's northbound and southbound trains are scheduled to be in the Fort Worth area about the same time. When we were in Fort Worth on Monday 7/18, we observed both the southbound and northbound Texas Eagles within a half hour period.

The aforementioned Trinity Railway Express (TRE) runs frequent service on weekdays and Saturdays. There is no service on Sundays . You could conceivably schedule yourself a circle trip involving TRE in one direction and Amtrak's Texas Eagle in the other, however the latter is subject to delays. The two railroads take different routings. TRE runs on former Rock Island trackage via Irving, while Amtrak runs on Union Pacific through Arlington.

I've got a ticket on the Regional (though I wish I could go on the Acela) from Boston to Philadelphia and then on the Pennsylvanian from Philadelphia to Harrisburg leaving 45 minutes after arriving from Boston. Considering those lines, are chances pretty good that I could make that connection? If not, is it a pretty simple process to exchange the ticket for the train I missed for the next one out?

Click to expand...

Since you are only going between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, you have a large choice of trains to take. If you miss Train #43, you can go to the ticket office and exchange your ticket for the next train, which would be #613 on weekdays, or #643 on weekends. Note that the 600-series trains, known as the Keystones, are unreserved, but they make more many more stops than the Pennsylvanian (which only stops at Paoli and Lancaster en route to Harrisburg). The Keystone trains also have no Business Class nor food service on board the train.