Is sleeping overnight inside train in NYP allowed?
 

Excuse my ignorance about the system as I haven't used Amtrak a lot, and excuse me again if this is not the right forum as I'm not trying to use the Amtrak points, but I thought this is the most relevant forum for my question.

I'm thinking of a trip something like DC union station to Boston South station. I found that there's a train leaving DC at 10pm arriving Boston at 9:47 next morning, which is very tempting as I can essentially save one night of hotel stay. However, the detailed itinerary shows that this train always stops at New York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station (NYP) at 1:57am and departs at 5:26am.

So I was wondering, will the passengers be directed to LEAVE the train and come back at 5:26am? Or can I stay at my seat and sleep straight for the entire trip throughout? The train doesn't need to be a dedicated comfortable sleeper train/seat. I'm more worried whether I would be forced to spend the night on some random bench in the New York Penn Station. Seems like there are a lot of train travelers who used (at least part of) this route, so I thought somebody might have an experience, hopefully fairly recently.

I may depart from somewhere between DC and NY, like Philly, depending on my travel plan, but the essence of the question remains the same I assume. Thanks and please let me know if I inadvertently violated any forum policies as I'm quite a newbie.

Since this is a through-train, I would expect that passengers traveling beyond NYP would be permitted to remain on the train during its extended dwell time there. Train #66 used to depart NYP at 3:00 am. Not sure what prompted the later departure time out of New York.

In any event, be sure to check here to see if you are eligible for any discounts on this trip:

https://www.railserve.com/amtrak_coupons.html

("Amtrak Promo Codes & Discounts for March 2024")

Thanks guv1976! This is becoming more optimistic. To make this a little more certain, by any chance do you know to which number I can call them to ask these sort of questions? Their website doesn't really say which category this question falls into, and the number for general issues, 800-872-7245, seems like a number mostly for booking related stuffs.

Also, many thanks to the promo code website, too!

There's a thread on Reddit about this train. Consensus seems to be that you can either stay on the train and sleep, or exit the train and reboard at any time before departure.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amtrak/comm...e_travel_time/

I would just call the main reservations number you noted, and ask an agent.

Yes, you can stay on the train.

And the reason the departure from NY is so much later these days is because of overnight work on the Hell Gate Bridge project.

Thank all of you joejones, guv1976, and musicalbox! I will call tomorrow to confirm, but this seems very optimistic. I appreciate y'all sharing your knowledge!

There used to be sleeper trains that held at stations for hours pre-dawn, just for that purpose.

I believe that you can still do this at San Antonio if you are on the WB Sunset, but are assigned to the sleeper that comes in on the Texas Eagle. Also, for the reverse, I believe.

Just to answer a little more definitively, because the some responses seem so tentative ("Consensus seems to be…").

YES, you stay on the train at Penn Station during the long layovers. Almost everyone does, and almost everyone is asleep.