Is the boarding at 30th st station like ny penn or do you go onto the platform before the train arrives. I am taking the regional from philly to nyp soon and i just wanna know. I know about the boarding hack but read that sometimes fails.
r/Amtrak is not associated with Amtrak in any official way. Any problems, concerns, complaints, etc should be directed to Amtrak through one of the official channels.
How? If everyone is on the platform when the train arrives, what does one stair matter over another? It only works at NYP because the train is already there.
You will know what platform ahead of time before the train arrives. We have always been taken to the platform and wait for the train to arrive.
Advice. If you are business class. Get on the train then find the car.
Do you need someone to go with you or can you just call the elevator? That didn’t work when I tried that in Philly and there was no Amtrak staff available to help except for the front desk person.
You’ll be sent down to the track before the train arrives. Occasionally it is already there (especially for the Keystone, since it has a brief layover) but usually for the regionals, you’ll get there before the train does.
The lounge will board a few minutes before the line in the main hall starts moving. Red Cap assistance will use the elevators as well.
Line up at the gate, which they announce in advance. Then in the minutes before the train arrives, they let everyone go down the stairs to the platform and you wait for the train to pull in. It's way easier than NY Penn.
I’d suggest not lining up at the gate. Philly often has a long line at the gate decently in advance. Eventually, they let everyone down to the platform where they wait for the train. As people mill around on the platform, any priority is having been first down to the platform is lost. One can wait for the line at the gate to clear, go down then, and still have as much chance of being first onto the train as the person who stood for thirty minutes.
Normally like NYP. Sometimes if the train is running late passengers will be sent down to the platform before the train arrives, but that’s the exception.
The one time I’ve boarded in Philly the train (northeast regional southbound) was late by fifteen minutes or so, the line was backed well into the side hall so they sent us down to the platform for about five minutes or so
r/Amtrak is not associated with Amtrak in any official way. Any problems, concerns, complaints, etc should be directed to Amtrak through one of the official channels.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
You go to the platform a few minutes before the train arrives. What is the boarding hack?
opposite stair or elevator
That’s at Penn Station in NY.
it works at philly too
How? If everyone is on the platform when the train arrives, what does one stair matter over another? It only works at NYP because the train is already there.
for railfanning
But how is it a boarding hack???
if u wanna go down to railfan
and at nyp there is west end concourse
You will know what platform ahead of time before the train arrives. We have always been taken to the platform and wait for the train to arrive. Advice. If you are business class. Get on the train then find the car.
If you can wait in the First Class lounge, they will take you down in a private elevator to the right platform, ahead of the others.
Same with redcap
Do you need someone to go with you or can you just call the elevator? That didn’t work when I tried that in Philly and there was no Amtrak staff available to help except for the front desk person.
Elevators are locked in Philly and the Red Caps are the people to ask. $5-$10 tip (depending on luggage).
You’ll be sent down to the track before the train arrives. Occasionally it is already there (especially for the Keystone, since it has a brief layover) but usually for the regionals, you’ll get there before the train does.
The lounge will board a few minutes before the line in the main hall starts moving. Red Cap assistance will use the elevators as well.
Took Amtrak regional rail from Philly last night. They let us down to the platform starting about 10 minutes before the train was expected.
Line up at the gate, which they announce in advance. Then in the minutes before the train arrives, they let everyone go down the stairs to the platform and you wait for the train to pull in. It's way easier than NY Penn.
im pretty sure it is that way because the platforms are wider than ny penn
I’d suggest not lining up at the gate. Philly often has a long line at the gate decently in advance. Eventually, they let everyone down to the platform where they wait for the train. As people mill around on the platform, any priority is having been first down to the platform is lost. One can wait for the line at the gate to clear, go down then, and still have as much chance of being first onto the train as the person who stood for thirty minutes.
For our trip from Philly back to Newark they had people line up in the station by the stairs. Pretty orderly.
They announce the track and then everyone lines up to wait to be allowed down to the track.
you also don't need to know the track because u have the platform number and each platform has 2 tracks
Normally like NYP. Sometimes if the train is running late passengers will be sent down to the platform before the train arrives, but that’s the exception.
i know for the keystone because it has to back out, but for a thru northeast regional northbound
is it still like that
The one time I’ve boarded in Philly the train (northeast regional southbound) was late by fifteen minutes or so, the line was backed well into the side hall so they sent us down to the platform for about five minutes or so