Amtrak Northeast Regional Punctuality/upgrades

[Oscar]

I'm going to travel for the first time on Amtrack. I will be traveling with my two kids from DC to Newark Airport and I have already booked my tickets through the Internet and have several questions:

1) For the tickets do I just need to pick them up at a machine (like at an airport?)

2) If I'm interested in "upgrading" my tickets from coach to business how much would I need to pay and where? ( Isbit worth paying for business class or the Acela?)

3) How punctual is the Regional Train. What are pobabilities that the train arrives late ?

4) Any recommendations for a first time traveling on a train?

 

[PRR 60]

I'm going to travel for the first time on Amtrack. I will be traveling with my two kids from DC to Newark Airport and I have already booked my tickets through the Internet and have several questions:

1) For the tickets do I just need to pick them up at a machine (like at an airport?)

2) If I'm interested in "upgrading" my tickets from coach to business how much would I need to pay and where? ( Isbit worth paying for business class or the Acela?)

3) How punctual is the Regional Train. What are pobabilities that the train arrives late ?

4) Any recommendations for a first time traveling on a train?

1. Yes, you can pick your tickets up at one of the kiosks. If you have a printout of your confirmation, the bar code will pull up your reservation. I prefer to simply swipe the credit card used for the purchase. That will also bring up the reservation. Plan C is to swipe any credit card and then enter your six digit reservation code. All three will work, although I find the barcode reader is hit or miss. Once your reservation is up, you press PRINT and that's it.

2. You can upgrade to business class, but on the NEC it is (in my opinion) not worth it. Others may disagree. If you upgrade before departure, your trip may be repriced to the current fare, so the upgrade could be pretty expensive. You can upgrade on board which will protect your fare, but it might be a hassle. The Acela does not stop at Newark Airport, so that is not an option. Regional Coach is fine for a short ride.

3. The Regionals are reasonably punctual, but assuming you are catching a flight at EWR (and why else would you go to EWR?), you should leave at about three hours between the arrival of the Regional and the departure of your flight. You don't want a late train to foul your air itinerary.

4. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

I'll just address the punctuality point.

The one time I took Amtrak to connect to a flight (from BWI), my train was almost 2 hours late. But I had given myself 3 hours, so I did not miss my plane.

However, generally, the Northeast Regionals are pretty timely. Amtrak owns the corridor, so barring power problems or a trespasser strike, the trains do pretty well. The exceptions are the trains that start in Virginia, which have to compete with freight trains. Those trains can sometimes be late getting into Washington.

 

[Acela150]

Look at a National timetable and look for trains that come from Virginia. AVOID those trains at ALL COST! They have a tendency to run late. Simply because they don't run on Amtrak trackage. Take trains that start in Washington. That way you know it'll be close to on-time and you can pick a seat!

As far as the Business Class upgrade I'd say if your not paying for it do it. :lol: In all seriousness I rode in Business Class today just because I wanted extra points and all I got was two cans of free soda, extra leg room, a NY Times (Which I was lucky to get), a crying New Born, and a legrest. Is it worth that extra money?? No. I got two cans of soda that were worth say $2 and a $5 newspaper total value $7 total price of my upgrade $44! Just tell me if that's worth it.. Not to mention it's an 8 ounce can of soda it's warm and they didn't give me ice once. In coach you get a 12 ounce soda for a $1.75 and it's cold! My kinda soda! Sure it's kinda high priced but who cares it's cold! Not to mention it's 25 cents cheaper then water! Just my two cents on BC.