Amtrak arrival and departure times

[slice]

Hi, I am taking an international flight out of Newark airport and would like to take Amtrak from Wilmington DE. Our flight departs EWR at 3:55pm and arrives back at 7:55pm.

a) How early should I plan to arrive to the airport.
b) Do I need to purchase a ticket for the airTrain once I arrive?
c) How much time should I give myself when I arrive back to EWR to clear customs then depart on Amtrak?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Brian Battuello]

It really depends on your level of risk for the airport side. You never know if TSA will take 5 minutes or 45 minutes. My philosophy is to allow at least two hours, and if I fly through TSA, I find a table at a nice bar in the concourse and play on my computer.

Amtrak is *generally* pretty reliable on the NEC, but you might want to have a driving plan backup in case of weather or a signalling snafu. Every now and then Amtrak has some sort of computer control problem and things really back up.

Coming back, if you want to book ahead, you could get something several hours after you land, and then try to change it to an earlier one if things work out. Take a look at the prices, if the train you are thinking of taking is already expensive, you might want to just wait and book when you land. Depending on your wifi situation in the plane, you might not be able to modify a reservation if your plane is delayed and you might lose your money if you no-show. If there's a real cheap fare, go ahead and book it, you don't have much to lose.

Hope it works out!

 

[slice]

Thanks for your reply but my question is more about how long it takes from amtrak arrival to get to the terminals where the flights are. Sorry I wasn't more clear on that.