Is there cheap rail travel from Washington D.C. to New York City?

Question

I have heard that there is cheap rail service from D.C. to NY but I am not sure where to look. I tried Amtrak but it was not exactly cheap.

Answer 1

You can look at Amtrak website for promotions or discounts, there are several, look there.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentSer...

The earlier than you purchase your ticket, cheaper it is.

If not, you can do this:  take a commuter train of MARC from Washington to Baltimore.  After, you must take an Amtrak train (or a bus) to Philadelphia because there are no commuter trains between those cities.  After, a SEPTA train to Trenton and change in Trenton to a NJT train to New York.  It is slower than Amtrak but not too much slow but a LOT cheaper!

Answer 2

doesnt exist, BUT there are these Chineese Busses that leave from Manhattan that are very cheap

Answer 3

Here are some options you can investigate.  Amtrak has a discount program associated with Guest Rewards -- if you join, they'll send you some coupons and you also get free trips if you have enough points.  There are also discounts available from some organizations (for instance, if you belong to AAA you can get a 10% discount if you book 3 or more days in advance).  But this is not exactly "cheap" either, because the one way fare is somewhere between $68 and $120, depending on when you book -- the further in advance you book, the cheaper it will be.  There are cheap commuter rail trains available from DC to points within Maryland (the MARC), but then you'd have to take Amtrak and change for NJ Transit within NJ.  But this would involve a lot of changing trains.  You could also take a plane for about the same cost as Amtrak -- try the Delta Shuttle.  The cheapest option, though,  is to take an express bus.  There are various companies that offer these (such as Washington Deluxe at http://www.washny.com) for fares as low as $20 each way, or you can book Greyhound or Peter Pan over the Internet for $23 each way.  Maybe that's what you heard about.  Of course if you can find someone driving there (especially in a hybrid car with high MPG) it might be even cheaper if you split the gas and tolls.  I hope this is helpful.

Answer 4

Yeah, it's called the "Hard Road to New Heaven" route. It's called this because there is no way to go beyond New Heaven, except with Amtrak.

You take Marc to Aberdeen, then Amtrak from Aberdeen to Phily 30th, then Septa and NJT to NYC.

I would recomind just taking Amtrak. The seats are more comfortable, def. worth the money. It's also alot faster than buses and Amtrak doesn't have to content with traffic jams like a bus would.

A round trip ticket should be about 100 dollars. You will get better prices if you book in advance.

Lastly,

Amtrak allows carryons and drinks.