I live in York Pa and I'm going to take my children (14yrs, 9yrs) to DC.?

Question

I need the best way to do this, i do not want to drive to DC, so i thought i can take the train from Penn Station. So which one Amtrak or Marc train. How are the seats on the Marc train are there anything like Amtrak's seat.

Answer 1

I'll try to help but your note isn't fully clear to me.

Which Penn Station will you be starting from?  The one in Baltimore, perhaps?  And parking in the garage beneath Baltimore Penn Station?  That station is indeed serviced by both MARC and Amtrak.  Be aware, though, that MARC doesn't operate on weekends.

Amtrak cars are designed for longer-distance travel and are a bit more comfortable than MARC cars, which are designed for commuter service.  Still, for the short length of ride the difference shouldn't be significant.

The major difference between the two services is speed (Amtrak is faster) and cost (MARC is cheaper).

Answer 2

i have several suggestions.

1- my actual and best recommendation would be to do a multimodal trip.  this is pretty easy, but you have to book with 2 carriers on your own instead of just 1 carrier.  York PA has multiple buses per day going to Baltimore, either Capitol Trailways or Greyhound.   see schedule below - these are operating in a "pool"  where both carriers are sharing the market and are selling tickets for themselves and each other as well.

(i guessed at a travel date, check your own date for proper schedules in effect for when you need to travel)

SOUTHBOUND - YORK TO BALTIMORE

Select Departure Schedule for Wednesday, July 9, 2008  

Select Departs Arrives Duration Transfers Carrier Schedule

  11:45am 12:55pm 1h, 10m 0  CPP 0751

   05:35pm 06:45pm 1h, 10m 0  GLI 4311

   08:00pm 09:30pm 1h, 30m 0  CPP 0757

NORTHBOUND - BALTIMORE TO YORK

Select Departure Schedule for Thursday, July 10, 2008  

Select Departs Arrives Duration Transfers Carrier Schedule

  08:00am 09:30am 1h, 30m 0  GLI 4304

  03:25pm 04:55pm 1h, 30m 0  CPP 0756

  06:40pm 08:05pm 1h, 25m 0  CPP 9007



   d=day h=hour m=minute

GLI: GREYHOUND LINES, INC.

CPP: CAPITOL TWS OF PENN POOL



so, perhaps, if one of these bus schedules work for you, you would take the bus instead, york-baltimore, then simply catch the next train going on to washington dc.  both marc and amtrak have at least hourly service, and it may even be every 15-30 min rail service depending on what time of day you are traveling.  

this way, you just park in York and save yourself the drive to baltimore, the parking fees (20$) in baltimore, and the whole hassle/stress of driving.  the bus and train may or may not use same Penn station, check with greyhound/capitol tlwys for their location.  but if not at same place, they are downtown, and it should be within a few blocks.

2- your actual nearest station is lancaster pa (LNC).  lancaster is very close to you, and probably has cheap (or maybe even free?) parking.  but the rub is that you have to go from LNC to philly to transfer trains to go to washington dc.  but there are multiple departures daily, including weekends and holidays too.

3- if you drive to baltimore penn station, then you could choose to use either Amtrak or MARC.  as previous poster said, Amtrak has more comfy seats since they are longer-distance trains, are faster, cost more, and run daily including weekends and holidays.  MARC is a commuter rail service, so cheaper fares, seats are ok but not deluxe, and only runs MON-FRI.  

You WILL have to pay for parking at BAL too, 20.00$ for each 24hr period.  call 410.783.0213 for more parking details.

Fares for bus or amtrak will depend on your travel dates, so i cant guess that yet.  children's fares are usually less, but there are variations.

amtrak children are age 2-15, greyhound/capitol buses children are age 2-11.  marc's children fare policy is 6-16 yrs old.

so, i hope this gives you additional ideas.

contacts:

amtrak = 1.800.872.7245 or www.amtrak.com

greyhound/capitol = 1.800.231.2222 or www.greyhound.ca (or you could use greyhound.com ONLY if you have IE7 browser)

marc = 1.410.539.5000 or www.mtamaryland.com