WAS

[VentureForth]

Up until soon from now, I have generally been a solo traveller with easy itineraries. I'm also well suited towards handling delays and other things that plague Amtrak. And, as a sleeper passenger as much as possible, I can avoid silly things like kindergarten walks and such. But next month, I'll be travelling with my family.

I'm going to be in Arlington, VA and will be travelling to PHL.

Quite frankly, I'm rather uptight about boarding in DC with my family and enduring massive lines. Now, it'll be a Saturday, so perhaps the commuter crowd will be tempered, but I'm still freakin' a bit.

So here are my two options -

1) Start at WAS. I can take a 30 minute cab/metro/bus from my hotel to Union Station. Endure the lines. Hope to get 4 seats semi-together. But the train time is better. There's an 8:10 departure that gets into PHL close to 10 AM. $40 pp one way.

2) Start in ALX. I can take a 30 minute cab/metro/bus from my hotel to Alexandria station. I'd then get on a pretty full train that departs two hours later for $44 pp one way. BUT I could probably easily get a seat when the train pulls into WAS and not deal with the craziness there. But it gets into PHL THREE hours later - an extra 30 minutes from ALX to DC then the engine swap.

I guess the no-brainer is to deal with WAS and get the early train out there and enjoy more time in Philly.

Guess the big question is: How crazy is WAS at 8 AM on a Saturday morning? And this is from a guy that grew up in Tokyo - but I wouldn't take my family there either during rush hour...

 

[AmtrakBlue]

How old is the youngest? They do let family's with small kids board first. Not sure what ages though.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

If you go from WAS, could you get a Red Cap? I don't know how they work there, but at PHL they are wonderful--they will take you to the train before everyone else, so you can choose seats together.

(Also, I left a reply at the bottom of the Philadelphia, PA thread in the "Northeast" travel section with tips for when you get to Philly--not sure if you saw that--I'm new at this and not sure when people stop reading threads--but hope it helps.)

If you are just in Philly for a day, that is a tight timeframe to start with, so I think if you can start at WAS if at all possible, it would be good to have the extra time in Philadelphia.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Go with WAS and a Redcap, even without luggage its a worthwhile $5 investment and will get you to the train before the thundering herd which should allow y'all to snag good seats!(no car attendants in Regionals, just Conductor and AC)

Union Station should be pretty quiet on Sat morning, 30th Street in PHL will be busier when you return! Might want to use a Red Cap there too even though you line up @ the stairs in the Main Hall to go down to the platform!

 

[StriderGDM]

Yeah, w/o knowing the age of your kids, I'd say WAS should be fine. And as I recall they do sometimes try to board families first.

I don't think there will be huge issues.

 

[VentureForth]

9 & 14. So, not teeny.

Thanks for the input!

I know this is the wrong forum for this, but anyone have a club pass available?

 

[Big Iron]

I would suggest the ALX option if you can get comfortable with the later PHL arrival. When I ride RVR to WAS, and points north, the train is pretty empty until boarding at WAS. With that said, if you go Red Cap or get in the front of the line at WAS there is a decent chance of getting 4 seats in close proximity.

I haven't spent alot of time boarding at PHL heading south so cant help there.

 

[afigg]

I'm going to be in Arlington, VA and will be travelling to PHL.

Quite frankly, I'm rather uptight about boarding in DC with my family and enduring massive lines. Now, it'll be a Saturday, so perhaps the commuter crowd will be tempered, but I'm still freakin' a bit.

So here are my two options -

1) Start at WAS. I can take a 30 minute cab/metro/bus from my hotel to Union Station. Endure the lines. Hope to get 4 seats semi-together. But the train time is better. There's an 8:10 departure that gets into PHL close to 10 AM. $40 pp one way.

...

Guess the big question is: How crazy is WAS at 8 AM on a Saturday morning? And this is from a guy that grew up in Tokyo - but I wouldn't take my family there either during rush hour...

There will be a line for the Regional #152 departing WAS at 8:10 AM, typically 150-250? passengers long by the time they start boarding, but it is an orderly line, not the scrum that one often encounters at NYP. I have taken #152 from WAS multiple times on Saturdays and the line is not a big deal. The line moves quickly once they open the doors and start boarding. #152 originates at WAS, so they will board from the high level platforms on the upper level tracks, so the boarding process is easy. By originating at WAS, the train usually departs on time while the later AM Regionals departing WAS on Saturdays originate in Virginia and can sometimes be running late by the time it gets to DC.
It took me a while to realize it, but the #152 8:10 AM WAS departure on Sat/Sun - which takes the place of the weekday Vermonter slot- is timed to allow connections from the DC Metro. Which is why it is a busy Regional at WAS on Saturdays, but with 6 or 7 coach cars, plenty of open seats departing WAS (typically fills up by PHL). The DC Metro opens at 7 AM on Saturdays and Sundays with the trains departing from the end of each line inbound. So you really have to be on the first Metro trains heading inbound to make the connections at Metro Center or Gallery Place unless you are starting from a Red Line stop (which you would not be coming from Alexandria). Even so, it is a tight Metro connection with not a lot of room for error in making a connection at Metro Center or Gallery Place to get to Union Station before 8 AM.

At the risk of information overload, if the DC Metro is doing major Red Line track work that weekend with single tracking in the "inner" part of the Red Line, you might be safer taking a cab to get to Union Station in time to get #152 than risk missing the train. Although one in theory could take the Orange Line to New Carrollton and board Amtrak there.

 

[VentureForth]

Great information, afigg. Had no idea the Metro started so late on Saturdays. I may just drive and bite the cost of parking at WAS - $24/day, but that's about 1/2 round trip cab fare, and only about $15 more than the Metro ticket for my brood.

Then again, it's only a 30 minute drive to New Carrolton where parking is only $6 for the day.

If I keep going, I could end up just driving to Philly! NOOOooooooo!

 

[afigg]

Great information, afigg. Had no idea the Metro started so late on Saturdays. I may just drive and bite the cost of parking at WAS - $24/day, but that's about 1/2 round trip cab fare, and only about $15 more than the Metro ticket for my brood.

Then again, it's only a 30 minute drive to New Carrolton where parking is only $6 for the day.

If I keep going, I could end up just driving to Philly! NOOOooooooo!

Are you making a day trip to Philly? Parking is free at the DC Metro station parking lots on weekends and federal holidays. That is a bit cheaper than DC Union Station, where the station operator has steadily increased the daily parking rates over the past 5-6 years. Union Station was $19/day about 5 years ago.

Coming in from Alexandria, you would have an easier connection to get to Union Station before 8 AM than I do, coming on either the Silver or Orange Lines. Because the Yellow Line does not extend very far south of King St (Alexandria), according to the DC Metro trip planner, the first Yellow Line train on Saturday arrives at King St at 7:03 AM, then arrives at Gallery Place at 7:24 AM. Then you would get on first Red Line train arriving at 7:36 AM which then gets to Union Station at 7:40 AM, a half hour before the Regional would depart.

If you are making a several day trip, the DC Metro parking is (officially) for 1 day only. However, this is not widely advertised, but there is limited multi-day parking at the Franconia-Springfield, Huntington, and Greensbelt Metro stations. On the station information on the WMATA website, the multi-day parking for those 3 stations is described as 15-20 spaces, but they actually mark off an entire row, maybe 50-60 spaces, in the Franconia-Springfield mega parking garage as allowed for multi-day parking. Even if the multi-day parking spaces are filled, I have parked as close as I can nearby on holiday weekends without any problems. From what I can tell, if you are back by Monday night to get the car, WMATA doesn't check the cars for overnight stays until Monday night (or Tuesdays if Monday was a holiday). If you are making a weekend trip to Philly, you could park your car at the Huntington station garage in the multi-day parking area for no more than a 1 day charge if you return on Monday. Cheaper than paying for 2-3 days parking at Union Station.

 

[VentureForth]

It's going to be a day trip. I will look into free parking - though I have found that it appears that many close at night. My goal is to leave at 8 AM and return by 9 or 10:30 PM. Many of the cheaper garages have short hours (like 10-5) on Saturdays. I found a garage in DC that can accommodate (thus far, and before I start looking up your info) and is only $11/day. It's on E St, only a block from WUS. So with that as my new baseline, I'm going to forego the New Carrolton idea.

Since that's a pretty good deal, I can avoid Metro all together and not have to worry about buying four fare cards. We'll have another day to play around with WMATA.

 

[supergrandmother]

I would go with the Redkap idea. I used the Redkaps when I took 2 if my grandchildren to DC. We actually boarded the southbound Crescent before they even called for families with small children. While I was still outside dealing with our tickets with the attendant the Redkap took the kids on board, found seats for us and stowed the bags. Well worth the $20 I tipped him. I will be doing the same thing in April when I take my two youngest grandchildren to DC again.

 

[NS]

Drive to New Carrolton and take Amtrak from there (some trains do not stop there, so makes sure that yours does). Parking at Metro garages is free on weekends and holidays.

 

[Ryan]

Yeah, I'd drive to NCR. Free parking, no lines, and an easy 30 min drive. No brainer.

 

[kbmiflyer]

Go with WAS and a Redcap,

As mentioned by others, this is the way to go. My family of 4 took a Keystone train PHL-NYC a couple of years ago. Talked to a red cap to take us and our luggage, he even let us go down a few minutes early so my son could see the train roll in. Got four seats together with no problem on a mostly empty train (the train unfortunately ended up going out of service in Trenton, but that is another story). Go with the redcap and tip him $10, it will be the best money you spend on the entire trip.