Originally Posted by
bitburgr
Septa is a reasonable option if you're only taking one train. A sample commute for the OP is the R2 leaving Wilmington at 7:08 and arriving at 30th street at 7:47 then taking the R3 from 30th street at 8:12 and arriving in Trenton at 9:18. That's a horrible commute and that's just one way. Switching over to NJ Transit in 30th street doesn't improve things much and only adds to the cost. (Edited to add: I see the OP is going the other way in the morning but it doesn't really make any difference)
But you're right, Amtrak isn't a commuter rail service.
One other difference is that the OP is commuting from Tenton, which has two SEPTA lines: The R3 "West Trenton" and the R7 "Trenton". The R7 has more options.
You could leave Trention at 6:37 on an express to 30th Street, arriving at 7:27. Then transfer to the R2 which departs at 7:43, arriving in Wilminton at 8:32. Total time on the train is about 90 minutes...much better than your hypothetical above, but still much longer than a typical Amtrak schedule.
However, the total montly cost would be $181 for a pass...way cheaper than the Amtrak price, and probably cheaper than driving. That being said, it's still a slog if you are doing a 90 minute train ride each way every day.