In two weeks Im moving to Washington DC for 9 months. Wondering what was interesting and worth seeing in terms of railways. Obviously I'm aware of the good links up the coast to Baltimore, Philadelphia and NY - though looking at fares it looks like I will be taking the NE Regional rather than Acela! Anything else worth doing - any nice places you can get to on the train? Any preserved lines?
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Washington DC and area
- Thread starter williamn
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
jamesontheroad
Established Member
The Washington Metro is a gem - perhaps one of the most thoughtfully and coherently designed subway systems in North America. The underground stations are architecturally striking, albeit all rather similar.
Unless I'm forgetting one, there are two commuter rail services serving DC: MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) and Virginia Railway Express. Both serve Union Station. Although they have pretty good daytime service, you'll be disappointed to find that most American commuter rail only operates in the weekday rush hours, with little or no service on some lines at the weekends.
For Amtrak, DC is a major hub - you have dozens of interesting long distance routes to consider trips on in addition to the NE Corridor. You should join the forums at discuss.amtraktrains.com - a kind of US equivalent of these pages, I suppose, where there is a wealth of info on tap about routes to take. Also bookmark and watch the Amtrak Deals pages, specifically the SmartFares which are available to book on many routes every Tuesday - Friday for travel over the following three weeks.
Unless I'm forgetting one, there are two commuter rail services serving DC: MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) and Virginia Railway Express. Both serve Union Station. Although they have pretty good daytime service, you'll be disappointed to find that most American commuter rail only operates in the weekday rush hours, with little or no service on some lines at the weekends.
For Amtrak, DC is a major hub - you have dozens of interesting long distance routes to consider trips on in addition to the NE Corridor. You should join the forums at discuss.amtraktrains.com - a kind of US equivalent of these pages, I suppose, where there is a wealth of info on tap about routes to take. Also bookmark and watch the Amtrak Deals pages, specifically the SmartFares which are available to book on many routes every Tuesday - Friday for travel over the following three weeks.
These are typical timings on a Washinton DC suburban route. These trains are meant for commuters travelling into the DC area and not for day-trippers based in DC. Harper's Ferry is well-worth visiting but if you want to do it by train you will have to spend two nights there. There is a daily Amtrak service between Washington Union Station and Harper's Ferry too but again you can't make a day trip on it.
A possible day-trip by train from Washinton DC could be to Williamsburg, VA. There is a daily train (AMTRAK) leaving Union Station at 7.40am and reaching Williamsburg at 11.25 am. The returning train leaves Williamsburg at 5pm and reaches Washington at 8.23pm. Five hours should be more than enough for a tour of Colonial Williamsburg.
If you are planning to visit Baltimore you might prefer to use the Camden Line. This has trains going in both directions mornings and evenings Mondays to Fridays. These trains terminate at Baltimore Camden Staion which is walking distance from the Baltimore and Ohio Railway Museum. It is also much closer to the older part of town than Penn Station which is used by AMTRAK and by some MARC trains.
A possible day-trip by train from Washinton DC could be to Williamsburg, VA. There is a daily train (AMTRAK) leaving Union Station at 7.40am and reaching Williamsburg at 11.25 am. The returning train leaves Williamsburg at 5pm and reaches Washington at 8.23pm. Five hours should be more than enough for a tour of Colonial Williamsburg.
If you are planning to visit Baltimore you might prefer to use the Camden Line. This has trains going in both directions mornings and evenings Mondays to Fridays. These trains terminate at Baltimore Camden Staion which is walking distance from the Baltimore and Ohio Railway Museum. It is also much closer to the older part of town than Penn Station which is used by AMTRAK and by some MARC trains.
Last edited:
- Status