I’m having an argument regarding train vs driving on Holiday weekends. Specifically between DC and Philadelphia, traveling with a 12-year-old and a small dog*.
My opponent insists that the train will be an absolute nightmare. That we’ll be stuck in the train station for hours on end, and that leaving DC after 2:00pm Sunday will result in child missing school on Monday.
I find this ridiculous. Having experienced the utter hell that is the tunnel traffic during the holiday rush, I feel certain that train tickets are a far superior choice. I’m also sure that the round trip to drop her off and drive home will exceed nine hours in the car and result in multiple stops and problems.
But I confess I don’t use the train all that often. What do you say Dopers? Does anyone have experience with this or similar train rides on busy holidays?
*17-pounder - he’s an easy traveler, and we’ve confirmed that he can ride with us.
Well, according to Google Maps, if you leave the White House, Washington DC at 1:30 pm on Sunday 1 December and drive to City Hall, Philadelphia, the journey can typically be expected to take between 2 hrs 40 mins and 3 hrs 40 mins, depending on conditions. The same journey by rail will take 3 hrs 23 minutes - this includes a Metro trip to Union Station in Washington, and a trolley trip to City Hall in Philadephia. But you could save 25 minutes on that by not leaving the White House until 1:56; you’d still get to City Hall in Philadelphia at the same time.
I have not done the specific route you mention, but one year I took the train home from college for the Thanksgiving holiday circa 2002. The route was Raleigh to Charlotte. The train was late, and was super crowded. But in previous years when I drove or carpooled home for the holiday traffic was hell, too. I remember one year my friend who I bummed a ride with didn’t get her Jeep out of second gear for like half the drive. I think the takeaway is that it’s going to be hell no matter which mode of transportation you use. But I suspect the Northeast Corridor is going to be more punctual than the train was in my experience, so that might give the train the edge.
I lived in DC 50 years ago (so things may be different). Traffic on I-95 thru Baltimore could get bad on holiday weekends. I traveled via Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to get to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Google says it’s only 15 minutes longer.
Train fares are $60 pp each way around Thanksgiving. For two or more people, that’s the tie breaker.
IF you get a NE Corridor train DC is the first stop, you should get good seats; however, if you get a train coming up from further south it might be packed already & seating options more limited.
I don’t know that specific route, but when I’ve made that determination locally (we’ve done quite a few long weekend vacations down to Portland from the Seattle area) it factors in details you’ve not provided. For example, how convenient would it be to have the car on the other side?
For us not having the car has typically been more convenient, because it’s so easy to get around Portland by transit and parking everywhere is less so. I typically find it more fun to get around the city that way anyway. Not sure if that applies to Philadelphia, or if you’re meeting other people or have other arrangements anyway.
Can’t you throw some data at this problem? I believe the Portland-Seattle train’s on-time history is available online. Perhaps the same is true of your route? The complaint about missing school on Monday seems quite implausible to me, unless this >2pm train has a history of being delayed overnight.
Another point is that in my opinion getting stuck in slowdowns is far more tolerable on a train (where you can walk around, play card games, etc.) than in car traffic. If I thought both modes of transport where equally likely to be delayed by comparable times I’d be inclined to take the train.
But that leaves you in NJ. So you have to take one of the bridges back across the river.
Back then I frequently drove to the DC area and we used different routes. One, quite scenic was over the Conowingo Dam. But eventually settled on Annapolis, Chesapeake Bay bridge (which some people find hard to take) Wilmington, Kennett Square (always stopping for mushrooms) and then Baltimore Pike into Philly.
The saying that it’s a shit sandwich, do you want it with mustard or without seems to apply. You are in one of the worst traffic areas of the world and there is no solution.