Is Amtrak reliable enough?

Hi!

Thois is my first posting on this forum and I am in no means a railway enthusiast. I am a plane guy and that's why I have this question.

At the moment I am looking at flying into either Boston or New York from Paris and then connecting to DCA (Reagan National). The connections from DCA to Union Station in DC seem to be frequent and thus I wanted to ask about the reliability of AMTRAK in the winter. I am looking to take the train from Washington to Philadelphia where I need to get my 6:15 AM flight to Detroit. The trains I am looking at are the 8:10 (very unlikely), 9:00 or 10:00 departures. The 9:00 departure would be best because then I could get the connection to PHL airport the same night without having to wait about 4 hours at 30th Street Station.

And my second question would be, do I have to pre-order a ticket or could I just get one at the station when I arrive there?

Thank you very much!

I note you, or at least your IP, are from University of Muenster, Germany.

I believe you will find Amtrak Northeast services both reliable and frequent enough to meet your travel needs. If the trains are not precisely on time, they are invariably "more or less" so.
While premium service trains, known as the Acela Express, are by reservation, the regular trains, Regionals, are mostly not. I think you can simply obtain your transportation once you arrive over here.

GBN
Forum Moderator

Thanks a lot!

Is it of any real relevance where I am from?


But it's good to know that I will be able to make the trip as planned.
Do you have any knowledge if there is anything "to do" for half an hour/hour at 30th Street Station?

Amtrak on the NEC is WAY more Reliable than Flying also if they were this Relieable in the Midwest My Dad wouldn't fly anyone for Business.

AmtrakFan

I'm not sure if I get this. You're flying from Europe to Boston or New York, then taking a connecting flight to DC, heading over to Union Station to take a train to Philadelphia, then flying to Detroit? Are the 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00 trains morning or evening trips?

Just interesting to note that folks from overseas have an interest in our Amtrak!

Willkommen!

-otto-

Well I am flying in to either Boston or JFK, most likely the latter now, because those are the only two airports I can get a connecting flight to DCA from, that is not overpriced. I have always wanted to go there and on the way to my final destination, Madison, WI, I had the choices of spending the night in DC or going to/through two new states for me, getting my toll up to 41. So I am taking that option. And for the Detroit flight, it's because of the plane. And I have never flown on Northwest but I can get Air France frequent flier miles.
I hope that explains enough.

Around here, we are of course railfans; but I for one am quite mindful that there is an active cadre of airfans out there. If our hobby activities have been curtailed account 9/11, and likely even more so by Madrid, I know for those guys, the curtailment of their hobby is still "doubled in spades".

A Flight Attendant client of mine remarked that she once met a fellow who was attempting to fly on every different aircraft (not type, TAIL #) that United has in the fleet (never mind his father was a "biggidy big" with them, so all the First Class travel this fellow wanted was his for the taking).

So, assuming this the case, if you are willing to share with us what kind of aircraft you are seeking to fly, "WE" would be interested and I promise you respect. Even though this being a rail forum, and one of our rules around here is to stay on topic, you may get some interesting replies through our private message system here.

GBN
Forum Moderator

One thing that may not occur to you , that getting From JFK to New York Penn station may take longer and be more complicated than the equilvalent transfer in Europe . You may want to look into the best way of achieving this transfer .

Probably the best way from JFK Airport to Penn Station is via the new
rail link to Jamaica and the LIRR to Penn Station, frequent service most of
the day.
Noel Weaver

I believe he is flying into DC, not taking the train from New York.

I don't think Amtrak is reliable. If you're going to a job interview or business meeting you almost have to leave alot of cushion time just in case. I've ridden alot of times where there were signal problems or wires down and missed a business meeting in NYC once because of bad signals.

Okay guys, I will be flying into JFK and then taking a PLANE to DCA.
And from there a TRAIN to PHL.


And GBN, my planes will be:

DUS-CDG Airbus A321
CDG-JFK Boeing 777-200ER
JFK-DCA Boeing 737-800
PHL-DTW-MSN DC-9
MSN-CVG CRJ-200
CVG-ATL Boeing 757
ATL-TPA Boeing 767-400 (finally!)
TPA-TLH ERJ-135 (dito)
TLH-ATL Boeing 737-800
ATL-CVG Boeing 737-800
CVG-BTV CRJ-200 (VT being State #42 for me)
BTV-BOS same plane, not just type
BOS-CDG Airbus A340-300
CDG-DUS Boeing 737-500

First and second and also the two last ones will be operated by Air France, the rest by Delta or Delta Connection. And of course the PHL-DTW-MSN flights will be on NW.

In the mean time I am going to fly from DTM-BUD and back on Easyjet and the A319, which was specailly equipped with two over wing doors for them.
And if United lets me use my miles, a nice trip to Scandinavia with five new plane types for me.

IMHO You shouldn't have any problems connecting DCA - PHL in the timeframe referenced.

Might i guess that you are going to visit the University of Wisconsin Madison?

sounds like a fun trip, enjoy!

Metrarider, I am sorry to disappoint you.

I am a geography major at the University of Münster in Germany.