<p>On an upcoming tour of colleges, we are going to be going from Boston to Philadelphia (30th street), and then taking SEPTA (crossing fingers for no strike...just read about that..hope it won't be bad timing).</p>
<p>Our choices are:
coming in at night arriving at about 9:15 PM in Philly, then taking SEPTA out to Bryn Mawr-
OR-
waiting until the next day and arriving in Philly at about 3:30 in the afternoon. </p>
<p>The 2nd option would be nice as far as arriving in the daytime, but will make us fairly rushed trying to get out of Boston on time in the morning, but for the 1st option, I am concerned about the relative safety of arriving and switching to the SEPTA at night.<br>
We are not really used to city/public transportation, and have never been to Philly, so not sure what to expect.</p>
<p>Also, I saw, on a very old post, someone mentioned that the Amtrak ticket would also be good on SEPTA. Is that true? How does that work?</p>
<p>I live in Philly and I think you’ll be okay. 30th Street Station is a nice area and probably right where you need to be to transfer to your Bryn Mawr SEPTA. Plus, you’ll be together, which would make me less concerned about safety. Also, I don’t think the strike will be an issue! I believe they already voted.</p>
<p>Providing the train is running, there shouldn’t be any problem with this. My question, however, is where it is that you are planning to stay if you arrive at Bryn Mawr at that hour of the night? Have you got something lined up for both of you?</p>
<p>At that time of night the trains only run once an hour to Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>There is a 9:30 PM train that would probably be tight for a newcomer with luggage to buy tickets and make (I do not know about using your Amtrak ticket on Septa that you mentioned) and then a 10:30 PM train.</p>
<p>Even if you buy the tickets on Septa train (for $2 more each), it would probably still be tight for a newcomer to make that connection and make the 9:30 train.</p>
<p>The train ride from 30th Street Station to Bryn Mawr is 20 minutes.</p>
<p>I am also interested in where you will be staying in Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>Thank you all. We will be watching the possible strike. :-SS I’m open to ideas on what to do if there is a strike while we are there. Are there car rentals available at the station? Of course if there is a strike, everything is likely to be booked. If we know a day or so in advance, we night be able to figure out an alternative.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that SEPTA only ran once an hour at night, to get us out to Bryn Mawr. That does make a difference!</p>
<p>I’m leaning toward just sticking with our original plan and traveling in the morning. It’s just a bit of a time crunch, but issues are usually easier to deal with during the day. We’ll have to take Boston’s commuter rail to the Boston station (from Wellesley) in the morning to catch our 9:30 Amtrak train to Philly…wondering how busy the commuter train will be going into Boston at that time. Then we arrive 3:24 at the Philly station and need to try to be at Bryn Mawr College by 4:30.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr college has a small inn right there on campus. We have reservations there, but I don’t know yet if we’d be able to extend the reservation to cover the extra night. </p>
<p>Frequent Amtrak rider here and I’m in 30th Street Station frequently. Amtrak is usually delayed - plan on your train from Boston to Philadelphia being anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 to 2 hours late arriving in Philadelphia and just be grateful if somehow you’re on time. Also, though there is good security at the station , it is not a place where two women who didn’t know their way would want to be alone late at night. There is a rental car facility right in the station, but check the hours on that. I’ve had taxis at 30th Street refuse to drive to the suburbs. </p>
<p>Not knowing what day you’re traveling I’d suggest the following: 1) stay at a local hotel near South Station the night before you leave Boston and get on one of the earlier trains out 2) that will give you more time to get the commuter to Bryn Mawr by 4:30 the day you need to be there.</p>
<p>In the future, consider the USAir shuttle. Daytime fares are often equivalent to Amtrak rates and you’ll have more flexibility with travel times.</p>
<p>Where are you staying when you get to Bryn Mawr? I disagree with MAB222 in that I think 30th Street is fine. Will there be unsavory people there? Probably, but there will be enough people there minding their own business to keep things safe. A fair number will be Drexel and Penn students. The transfer would be fine. The SEPTA strike shouldn’t directly affect you because it is the busses, not the trains that are threatening to strike. A cab - which may be more difficult to get during a strike - would be your best bet. My husband has always been able to get one to the burbs, but he’s sometimes had to ask a few different drivers. (The cabs are lined up right outside 30th Street, so you wouldn’t have to go looking for one). </p>
<p>Is the Megabus or Bolt bus a possibility? At least one of them goes between Philly and Boston, not sure which. It’d probably be a lot cheaper and the times might work out better for you. They drop off literally right across the street from 30th street. Lots of students on the bus.</p>
<p>Call Wyndham, and ask about the extra night. That could end up making your decision for you. The staff there are also likely to be a good resource for you for information about trains, etc.</p>
<p>I’d second the suggestion that you check out the bus lines. Both Bolt and Megabus have connections from stops in Boston South Station, to on-street locations near 30th Street Station in Philly. Check with both of them to find out the details. En route, it looks like Bolt has a stop in Newark and Megabus has a stop in Secaucus, but I don’t think either of those are changes.
<a href=“https://www.boltbus.com/”>FlixBus welcomes BoltBus travelers;
<a href=“http://us.megabus.com/”>http://us.megabus.com/</a></p>
<p>Thanks…lots to consider! I don’t know if I have ever taken a taxi anywhere in my lifetime, and my experience with city buses is learning to avoid them. I have no idea what the megabus or bolt are.<br>
It’s disappointing to hear that Amtrak is likely to be late.<br>
I suppose we could rent a car at the station, to get there at night and not have to wait around for SEPTA.<br>
Part of the reason for the trip though is for D to see what transportation would be like to get there in the future, She’d either fly or take the train to Philly and then have to get herself to Bryn Mawr .
We’d normally be coming from the south. Just coming in from Boston this time, for the trip.</p>
<p>@halfemptypockets, @MAB222, @slackermomMD, @dadinator, @rebeccar, Thank you for all the advice on 30th street station! I think we are going to stick with going from Boston to Philly in the morning, arriving late afternoon, and hope for the best as far as an on-time arrival, and then switch to SEPTA. If we are late, we will miss some of what we’d like to be there for, but will it will still be a worthwhile visit.<br>
From what I gather, I think it works like this:
Amtrak arrives on the lower floor and we take an escalator up to the regional rail level, heading toward 30th street.
We can purchase our tickets (for a small upcharge) as we board the SEPTA regional rail…so we don’t have to figure out ticket booths etc. (I think $7.00 per person to Bryn Mawr-zone 3?)
We take the train that says it is going to paoli/thorndale.</p>
<p>Will the Bryn Mawr stop be well marked so that we know when to get off the train?
Any updates on the strike?</p>
<p>The Bryn Mawr stop is well marked. Don’t worry about that. Pick up a schedule (or print it out at home before you leave) so you can pay attention to the names of the intermediate stops on the way.</p>
<p>Bolt and Megabus are two high-quality discount inter-city bus services. I can’t remember which is actually owned by Greyhound. They generally have non-stop (at most one-stop) routes, free Wi-Fi, dirt cheap prices, and run lots of promotions - $1 fares, 4th trip free, etc. Most students (and lots of non-students) I know take them. If your daughter does end up in Boston or Philly, chances are that she will too for some excursion or other to a different city.</p>
<p>Panic about the strike seems to have died down. Greyhound owns Bolt; I have had many bad experiences with them but they’re kind of a necessary evil, plus they’re certainly cheap. Usually.</p>
<p>It is very easy to get from Amtrak to the septa trains. Make sure you get the correct septa line (it used to be the R5 but they dropped those monikers. It’s actually the main line of the Main Line!)</p>
<p>Do NOT rent a car to drive to Bryn mawr. The schuylkill expressway is not for novices. Plus the train is so easy. </p>
<p>P s. I don’t know that I agree about amtrak always being late. That has not been my experience. </p>
<p>@halfemptypockets, @MAB222, @slackermomMD, @dadinator, @rebeccar, I just wanted to thank you all again for the advice! We are back from our trip, and it all worked out well. Having read all your advice made me feel like I knew what to expect and it was a little less overwhelming. Our Amtrak train arrived just a few minutes late and we were able to get tickets and get right on the SEPTA headed to Bryn Mawr! We made it just in time for her to sign in for the senior stay event!</p>