Northeast Regional delays?

[GlendaB]

Hi. Newbie here. This forum has so much good information, and I'm hoping one of the very knowledgeable people here can answer my question.

I will be traveling on the Capitol Limited from Washington, DC to Chicago and from there on the Texas Eagle to St. Louis. The first leg of my trip, though, involves a short ride on the Northeast Regional from Baltimore to Washington, DC. I've been reading on various travel forums that the Northeast Regional experiences frequent delays, which prompted me to change my reservations to give myself a three-hour cushion between scheduled arrival in DC and the departure of the Capitol Limited. Do you think this is a big enough cushion? How long are the typical delays on the Northeast Regional? I would hate to miss the first connection of my trip.

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

Glenda B, welcome to AU, welcome to the family.

Im gonna defer to the people living in that area for the NER advice.

Anthony

 

[GlendaB]

Glenda B, welcome to AU, welcome to the family.

Im gonna defer to the people living in that area for the NER advice.

Anthony

Thanks for the warm welcome, Anthony! I look forward to hearing the advice of people familiar with the trip from Baltimore to DC.

 

[NY Penn]

Welcome to the forums.

Although there are rare occasions when the Northeast Corridor is disrupted, 99.9% of the time it runs with very minor delays, if any at all. Thus, three hours is more than enough time. That's not a problem though - there's lots to see in Washington.

 

[GlendaB]

Welcome to the forums.

Although there are rare occasions when the Northeast Corridor is disrupted, 99.9% of the time it runs with very minor delays, if any at all. Thus, three hours is more than enough time. That's not a problem though - there's lots to see in Washington.

Thanks very much for the reassuring information. I will try to relax and assume my 3-hour cushion will be plenty. I don't think I will take the chance of venturing out to sightsee and not being able to get back in time. Anyway, I worked in DC for many years and have seen pretty much everything. I think I will take advantage of the lounge, which I understand I will be able to use as I have a sleeping-car ticket, and enjoy my new Kindle while I wait.

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

I wanted to ask Glenda, are you in a roomette *sleeper accomodation* on the Capitol Limited?

If so, you have access to the Club Acela lounge in DC, and you get boarded with the other sleeper passengers before the general population of Coach. The same holds true in Chicago if you have a room from Chicago to St. Louis on the Texas Eagle. Also, all meals are included in your sleeper ticket price.

From personal experience, when in the Chicago Lounge, you get free snacks *in Chicago they had bags of Rold Gold pretzels and bags of Goldfish crackers* and drinks, like coffee, tea, milk, soda. It's quite comfortable. Im sure the Club Acela lounge in DC is pretty much equal to the Metro Lounge in Chicago.

I also got to see the Club Acela lounge in NY Penn as I was coming in on the Crescent on my recent trip, thanks to Alan. So the one in DC must be pretty much the same.

I hope you have a wonderful trip though Glenda.

Edit, Glenda posted as I was making this post. haha.

Ant

 

[GlendaB]

Thanks again, Anthony. Yes, I do have sleeper roomette accomodations for the while trip (except the Baltimore to DC part). That's good news about being able to board first as I currently have a bum knee and am using a cane. It will be nice not to be in such a big crowd. I'm looking forward to traveling on the train. It has been many years since I traveled by rail in the US.

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

If you have a bum knee, I would suggest using a Redcap to help get you to the train as some of the walks can be pretty brutal on bad knees.

They can take you and your luggage on a cart to the train, saving you the wear and tear on your knee. They have Redcaps at both DC and Chicago. When its time to board, they will announce that anyone needing Redcap service to meet them at *insert door or place here*, and then they can take you straight to the waiting train.

Normally you can tip the Redcap a few dollars if you wish, its optional, but they do appreciate the tips.

Ant

 

[Anthony]

I am getting so confused seeing this other Anthony posting everywhere... :giggle:

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

Hey, what can I say, Anthony is a popular name. thats why I chose Amtrak Cajun haha.

Ant

 

[Ispolkom]

As a patron of the Empire Builder, I don't really thing that the Northeast Regional is ever delayed. When, I ask, has a train from Stamford to Trenton been 30 hours late?

 

[GlendaB]

Thanks again Anthony. I certainly do plan to use Redcap service and will of course provide a tip. I appreciate all the good information.

 

[Amtrak Cajun]

Not a problem Glenda, its what we at AU are here for.

Ant

 

[afigg]

Welcome to the forums.

Although there are rare occasions when the Northeast Corridor is disrupted, 99.9% of the time it runs with very minor delays, if any at all. Thus, three hours is more than enough time. That's not a problem though - there's lots to see in Washington.

Let's not overstate the on-time performance. It's probably 95% for delays of less than 30 minutes when there is not a breakdown or weather related outage on the NEC. The NEC is among the most reliable of the Amtrak corridors with delays of more than 30 or 60 minutes not that common, but they do happen.

If GlendaB is traveling from BAL to WAS on a weekday and for some reason, the southbound Amtrak trains are stalled north of the DE border - catenary pulled down or the Amtrak train broke down - the MARC Penn Line trains should be running and would be a plan B backup option that she can switch to. That said, 3 hours is a pretty safe cushion.

 

[GlendaB]

Welcome to the forums.

Although there are rare occasions when the Northeast Corridor is disrupted, 99.9% of the time it runs with very minor delays, if any at all. Thus, three hours is more than enough time. That's not a problem though - there's lots to see in Washington.

Let's not overstate the on-time performance. It's probably 95% for delays of less than 30 minutes when there is not a breakdown or weather related outage on the NEC. The NEC is among the most reliable of the Amtrak corridors with delays of more than 30 or 60 minutes not that common, but they do happen.

If GlendaB is traveling from BAL to WAS on a weekday and for some reason, the southbound Amtrak trains are stalled north of the DE border - catenary pulled down or the Amtrak train broke down - the MARC Penn Line trains should be running and would be a plan B backup option that she can switch to. That said, 3 hours is a pretty safe cushion.

That's good to know, thanks!

 

[Ryan]

Personally, I think that 3 hours is a bit much. How long was your original connection?

I regularly catch long distance trains out of Washington after taking MARC/Amtrak from BWI, and usually allow 60-90 minutes for the connection.

Edit: looking at Amtrak.com, I see the offered connection is 1h06m long (it offers Regional #125, which arrives at 2:59).

If I were nervous about that connection, I'd consider MARC train 433 that leaves BAL at 1:35 and gets you into DC at 2:30 (1h35m connection).

Two other things to keep in mind:

1. The connection from train 125 is a guaranteed connection from Amtrak's POV. If you're running late, they are obligated to get you to Chicago.

2. If there are delays upstream on the NEC and trains become massively late, there's a real good chance that *something* from Amtrak will be making the trip from BAL-WAS. If you're ticketed on a connection, and every train is running 3 hours late, they'll just let you board an "earlier" train running at about the same time your originally scheduled train would be running. In the event that there is a complete shut down of the NEC, Amtrak will be able to put you on a bus/van/taxi (at their expense) to get you to your train in DC.

 

[GlendaB]

Thanks Ryan. That's good to know. So if I understand correctly, if I have Amtrak reservations that involve connections, if one of them is too late to make the connection, they will make some other arrangement to get me to my connection? If so, that is very reassuring. I am not concerned about the return trip as I have no deadline to meet on the way back and can accommodate any number of delays. I do need to get to St. Louis on time, though, as I am going there for the final interment of three family members, two of whom are my parents, so I really need to be there. Since flying always results in a signifiant sinus and ear infection, I'm relying on Amtrak to get me there.

Thanks again Ryan. I really appreciate all the information and advice from experienced Amtrak travelers.

 

[GlendaB]

Personally, I think that 3 hours is a bit much. How long was your original connection?

I regularly catch long distance trains out of Washington after taking MARC/Amtrak from BWI, and usually allow 60-90 minutes for the connection.

Edit: looking at Amtrak.com, I see the offered connection is 1h06m long (it offers Regional #125, which arrives at 2:59).

If I were nervous about that connection, I'd consider MARC train 433 that leaves BAL at 1:35 and gets you into DC at 2:30 (1h35m connection).

Two other things to keep in mind:

1. The connection from train 125 is a guaranteed connection from Amtrak's POV. If you're running late, they are obligated to get you to Chicago.

2. If there are delays upstream on the NEC and trains become massively late, there's a real good chance that *something* from Amtrak will be making the trip from BAL-WAS. If you're ticketed on a connection, and every train is running 3 hours late, they'll just let you board an "earlier" train running at about the same time your originally scheduled train would be running. In the event that there is a complete shut down of the NEC, Amtrak will be able to put you on a bus/van/taxi (at their expense) to get you to your train in DC.

Replying again (this time remembering to quote your very informative response) to confirm that the original reservation for the Baltimore to DC segment was, indeed, #125 arriving at 2:59. The one-hour cushion made me uneasy, so I changed that part of the reservation to #141 departing at 12:27 and arriving at 1 pm. I feel better with the 3-hour cushion as I am moving slowly at present with my bum knee and cane.

I do have another question regarding baggage assistance in DC. I understand the roomettes are on the upper level of the car, which involves climbing up a fairly steep set of stairs. I think it would be rather challenging to drag myself and my two (small) cases up the stairs with my bad knee and cane. Can one ask the Redcap to put the luggage on the train, or will I have to wrangle my own luggage into the roomette? I can certainly do that, but I move very slowly at present, and I expect that anyone trying to board behind me would feel very annoyed, and I try to avoid annoying people wheneve possible.

 

[Ryan]

I've you've got the time, and don't mind the wait, I'd absolutely do whatever makes you comfortable.

I've never used a redcap, but if they don't carry your bags up to your room, the sleeping car attendant should.

Also, if you don't need the bags right away (or at all while you're on the train), there is a luggage rack on the lower level that you can store your bags in.

 

[GlendaB]

I've you've got the time, and don't mind the wait, I'd absolutely do whatever makes you comfortable.

I've never used a redcap, but if they don't carry your bags up to your room, the sleeping car attendant should.

Also, if you don't need the bags right away (or at all while you're on the train), there is a luggage rack on the lower level that you can store your bags in.

Thanks again, Ryan. I'm sure I'll manage all right. I just like to have know what to expect to I can plan for any problems.

 

[AlanB]

GlendaB,

Yes, the Redcap should bring your bags right to your room for you. If he/she doesn't, then I'd tip them less than the norm. Upon arrival into Chicago, your sleeping car attendant should assist you in carrying your bags down and placing them outside the door. You may wish to confirm with the attendant in the morning that you will indeed need help with your bag(s). Most do offer, but a few of the lazy ones won't, unless you ask.

Generally Redcaps meet all arriving trains in Chicago with big ride on carts to take you into the lounge to wait for your next train. And they'll return to get you later for the Eagle.

One note, a roomette is on the small side. Think 3 old fashioned Superman style phone booths pushed together to form a room. There is very limited space for luggage within the roomette. So I would highly recommend packing such that you can leave 1 bag in the downstairs luggage rack and just have the Redcap bring the other bag to your room.

 

[GlendaB]

GlendaB,

Yes, the Redcap should bring your bags right to your room for you. If he/she doesn't, then I'd tip them less than the norm. Upon arrival into Chicago, your sleeping car attendant should assist you in carrying your bags down and placing them outside the door. You may wish to confirm with the attendant in the morning that you will indeed need help with your bag(s). Most do offer, but a few of the lazy ones won't, unless you ask.

Generally Redcaps meet all arriving trains in Chicago with big ride on carts to take you into the lounge to wait for your next train. And they'll return to get you later for the Eagle.

One note, a roomette is on the small side. Think 3 old fashioned Superman style phone booths pushed together to form a room. There is very limited space for luggage within the roomette. So I would highly recommend packing such that you can leave 1 bag in the downstairs luggage rack and just have the Redcap bring the other bag to your room.

Thanks Alan! I will bear your recommendations in mind. I was thinking that since the roomette is meant for two people and my two bags are not large and not equal to the size of another adult, I should be okay.

With all the good information I'm getting, I will feel very well prepared for my trip.