Switching trains in Penn Station

[Backshophoss]

IF Amtrak botches the connection to Train 168 at NYP, the fallback option of train #146 is possible at 7:48 pm arr/8:00 pm dept at NYP,
as the worst case connection

[MACTRAXX]

Honestly, I think any suggestions to switch the train earlier, unless you reticket, is problematic. Besides the fact that conductor may not be happy, your transfer is really only guaranteed at Penn Station.

Look, Penn Station can be big and ugly and scary, but people change trains all the time.

And the best advice is to ask the conductor or crew member on 156 for help. They can make sure there's Redcap waiting and help them transfer.

GM (and Everyone) I agree with your thoughts:

Yes-the best way is to go with the reservation and transfer point as the itinerary was written.
Changing tickets may incur substantial monetary penalties with no guarantee of any alternate
transportation. The flexibility factor of being able to ride another train is not there.

Again check with the train crew on #156 before arrival at NYP - getting a Red Cap to handle
baggage for the transfer at Penn Station-New York is a good idea to navigate the station.

Mick-Please let us know how your family members make out on this trip...MACTRAXX

[HenryAlan]

There is an hour and 14 minutes to make that connection. Best advice -- don't worry. When they get to NYP, they just deboard, follow the crowd, then look for signs for Amtrak once they make it up the stairs. It's really very easy, and with the amount of time that they have, their biggest problem will be how to spend the time waiting for the next train.

[mr. mick]

Thanks all who posted here regarding my (admittedly, poorly-worded ) topic; daughter and husband will be going totransfer at Penn Station, and they will be discussing their concerns with the conductor on 156, about getting to 168 to Boston.. No doubt there will be others making the same transfer; I pointed out to her that one of the consistent messages in most of the comments and suggestions was to communicate with the Amtrak conductor, and that is their plan: both when they board and later in the trip, Hopefully, all will be well, they will make the transfer and will show up iat South Station on the advertised.

Again, thanks to all who took the time to comment.
Regards,
Mr. Mick
Southern Maine

[jcpatten]

I don't recall if this got communicated or not, but don't talk to the conductor about the other train until after DC, as the conductors a different south of DC than they are north of DC.

[Backshophoss]

What was the final outcome of this trip? made the connection at NY Penn ?

[mr. mick]

My daughter and her husband spent the holiday week with us, coming up from Roanoke on Saturday, and returning after a week on the Sunday Boston to Roanoke trains. The weekend trains require a transfer at Penn Station. Both trips
went very well; on the way up, daughter spoke to the Conductor around Baltimore and she got excellent directions on how to navigate Penn Station to get onto her connecting train; When they got off at Penn Station, they ascended to an intermediate level and then found their way to ascend another floor to the Amtrak level, without any difficulty. Both trains (156 and 168) were on time, so they had time to get a bite to eat while waiting for 168, which was good. The only fly in the ointment occurred north of Providence, when 168 had to rescue a local commuter train, picking up their passengers and making a couple of extra stops to drop them off, so that 168 was about an hour or so late getting into South Station.

The Sunday return trip also went smoothly - they boarded 195 in South Station and transferred to 147 at Penn Station ( about a 2 hour interval between trains) and proceeded to Roanoke, arriving about 12 minutes later than scheduled.

Thanks again to all who took the time to provide informatinand suggestions; they helped to make their travel a lot less stressful.

Mr. Mick

[AmtrakLocomotiveEngineer]

IF Amtrak botches the connection to Train 168 at NYP, the fallback option of train #146 is possible at 7:48 pm arr/8:00 pm dept at NYP,
as the worst case connection

The problem here is 146 doesn't go to Boston. Lol