Amtrak

<p>Just wondering how easy it is to take a train to UDel from Penn Station ....what is proximity of train station to campus and is there an easy/safe way to get to campus? Thanks!</p>

<p>There’s only one Amtrak train a day that stops in Newark (leaves NYC around 5:30 pm, gets into Newark about 2 hours later). Once you’re there, there’s a UD shuttle bus that will take you to various spots on campus.</p>

<p>There are multiple trains a day that go to Wilmington, and from there you have a couple of choices: 1) in the early morning or late afternoon you can take the SEPTA commuter train to campus or 2) at other times you’d either have to take a cab or the public bus. </p>

<p>This page may help: [FAQ</a> - Transportation Services - University of Delaware](<a href=“http://www.udel.edu/transportation/faq.html]FAQ”>http://www.udel.edu/transportation/faq.html)</p>

<p>I’m curious about how to catch an Amtrak train out of Newark to go south to Baltimore or Washington. The train from Penn Station that stops in Newark around 7:30 pm goes on to Baltimore and Washington. Where exactly do you catch it? On the north side of the tracks, I assume? Since there is no real station in Newark (no ticket booth or staff), students just wait on the platform with tickets? In the winter, they stand alone in the dark? Are there typically other students getting on all the time?</p>

<p>My DD usually walks to/from the Amtrak station on South College, so I don’t let her take trains that get in after dark. It would probably be fine, but no reason to take a chance.</p>

<p>She usually takes it to Penn St, but has also gone to DC. Not sure about where to stand. I never asked; she was able to figure it out.</p>

<p>Wilmington has a lot more trains, but freshman year, when she didn’t know anyone with a car, she took a cab (due to timing) and that was more expensive than it should have been.</p>

<p>I bought an Amtrak student advantage card for her and she has saved a lot using that in the past year and a half.</p>

<p>Another option is UD Catch a Ride. On breaks (and I think weekends), the bus has pick ups at three locations on campus (Laird, Rodney, Perkins) and drop offs at Penn Sta (as well as on the LIE for Spring Break and Thanksgiving). My DD took this back yesterday, rather than Amtrak because it’s easier than dragging luggage through Penn Sta and then wheeling it all the way back to her dorm (on Laird). Here’s a link:</p>

<p>[Home</a> - Catch-A-Ride](<a href=“http://www.freewebs.com/catcharide/]Home”>CollegeCoachBus)</p>

<p>In my limited experience, Catch a Ride is much less expensive than Amtrak, if the schedule works for you. Another (possibly crazy, but not costly) option could be to take SEPTA to Philly and then to Trenton and then NJT into NYC. A bit tedious, I would think, but the student could do work the whole way (?) We used to live in Philly and would take SEPTA/NJT into New York … this just adds another leg.</p>