MrClean06

I have to catch a flight out of BWI at 6:40 PM on a Monday evening. I am looking at Amtrak in order to avoid sitting in rush hour traffic in a cab and to save some cash. I have a few questions, maybe someone can help as I have never been to BWI before. Thanks

1. Does the train drop you off at the terminal

2. If not, do you have to take a shuttle to the terminal from the train depot and approx. how much time should I allow for this?

3. Taking into account the first 2 questions, approx. how much time should I allow to get from Union Station to bag check at the airport?

4. Is there a place where one can look at historical on-time performance of particular train lines?

violist

1. No. It stops at the BWI Rail station, which is not accessible
to the airport by foot. From which ...

2. Up to 15 min wait for a bus, which then takes 5-10 min. If
you are really in time trouble, you can take a cab from the
rail station to the terminal. This saves you the wait for the bus
and a couple minutes more if you are not flying Southwest.

3. Doing a quick and dirty calculation, allow 65 minutes from
Union Station to the ticket counter, just at a guess.

4. The best I can come up with is http://www.amtrakdelays.com

A guide to prices for afternoon trains:
Amtrak regional $18 to 21, about 25-30 min to BWI rail station;
MARC commuter train $6, about 35-40 min.

You may buy MARC tickets from the Amtrak machines and windows.

violist

Just adding: remember that the MARC train runs only on weekdays
(not for your benefit, but that of other readers).

Also: why not leave a little extra time and plan on relaxing over a
burger and beer at Bateman's, landside between piers C and D?
There's a MARC express at 4:15, arriving at 4:40.

jcm9572

A couple of helpful hints for taking the MARC:

1) If you're hauling luggage, try to get to the train early (say, 15-20 minutes ahead of time). Most of the afternoon rush MARC trains on that line use double-decker cars with woefully little storage space for anything larger than, say, a briefcase. Not to mention they're often standing-room-only, packed with commuters. Storage space for large items can be found at either end of the double-decker cars. Don't plan on stacking your luggage in the seat next to you.

The single level cars will occasionally pop up on this line. The overhead racks above the seats on these cars have plenty of room for luggage.

2) (And this goes for AMTRAK too) The northbound platform at the BWI station is short and not all the cars will make the platform. So make sure you ask the conductor on the platform to confirm which cars will make the platform. Generally, on AMTRAK, it's the cars toward the front, and on MARC, the cars toward the middle and rear.

3) The bus to the terminal stops on the road between the two garages. A mass of people will assemble at the stop at the close end, but there is a little-known second stop near the other end of the garage. If you go the taxi route, $5 seems to be the going rate.

MrClean06

Thanks all for your advice. I think that I will either take the 4:02 noreast reg. or the 4:15 MARC to cover my butt.

slawecki

have you read this yet?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/washi...dca-bwi-3.html

note the late trains.