Complete Guide To Traveling To Philadelphia By Train

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How to get to Philadelphia by train? This is a very common question. Philadelphia has three major train station. The biggest and the most important one is the 30th Street Station followed by Suburban Station and Jefferson Station. Check my article on the 30th Street Station if you are not familiar with the station. I have also written an article about how to travel from Philadelphia to New York. Read that article if you are thinking of traveling from Philly to New York.

How to get to Philadelphia by train from Southern New Jersey.

There are a couple of ways you can travel from Southern New Jersey to Philadelphia.

• New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Rail Line: NJ Transit has a train that connects 30th Street station Philadelphia and Atlantic City. The train takes about 90 minutes to cover this distance. Along the way the train stops at Pennsauken, Cherry Hill, Lindenwold, Atco, Hammonton, Egg Harbor City and Absecon. The ticket price is about $10.75 one way. You can purchase the tickets at the 30th Street Station.

• New Jersey Transit River Line: NJ Transit River Line connects the city of Camden (across the river from Philadelphia) to Trenton (Capital of New Jersey). The train makes several stops in between these two cities including Walter Rand Transportation Center and Pennsauken Transit Center. From Walter Rand Transportation Center, you can get on the PATCO line to Philadelphia. From the Pennsauken Transit Center, you can connect to the New Jersey Transit Atlantic City line.

• PATCO Speedline: PATCO connects Rittenhouse Square (Philadelphia) and Lindenwold, New Jersey. The train makes four stops in Philadelphia. The last stop is 15-16th and Locust. This station is two blocks away from Rittenhouse Square. From the square you can easily walk to the 30th Street Station or the Suburban Station. PATCO stops at the Walter Rand Transportation Center (connect to NJ Transit River Line). The last stop for PATCO in New Jersey is Lindenwold. From Lindenwold you can connect to the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line.

• SEPTA Wilmington/Newark Line: SEPTA’s Wilmington/Newark line connects Wilmington/Newark (cities in the State of Delaware) to the three major train stations of Philadelphia (30th Street Station, Suburban Station and Jefferson Station). If you are in the Bridgeport or Deepwater area, taking SEPTA might be an option.

How to get to Philadelphia by train from New York City, Northern and Central New Jersey.

There are two ways to travel between Philadelphia and New York City, Northern and Central New Jersey.

• NJ Transit Northeast Corridor: The NJ Transit Northeast Corridor line connects Penn Station New York City to Trenton. It makes several stops along the way. The key ones are Newark, Newark Liberty Airport, Metropark, East Brunswick, Princeton and Hamilton. From the Trenton Transit Center, you will have to take the SEPTA train from Trenton to 30th Street Station (when you buy the tickets to Philadelphia, you will typically get two tickets, one for each segment (NY/NJ to Trenton and Trenton to Philadelphia)). If you are in Downtown Manhattan, you can take the PATH train to Newark and hop on to the NJ Transit Northeast Corridor train. The SEPTA train will also stop at the Suburban and Jefferson stations.

• Amtrak: Amtrak has numerous trains everyday that connects New York City to Philadelphia. Amtrak stops at the 30th Street Station but not Suburban or Jefferson Stations (30th Street Station is also a nice place for architecture photography, street photography and a small photo walk). Amtrak has different types of services between these two large American cities. The intermediate stops will depend on the type of Amtrak train you are on. The Amtrak Acela does not make most of the stops (it is also the most expensive and covers the distance between Philadelphia and New York in about 75 minutes). Amtrak Northeast Regional makes many stops including Trenton, Newark Liberty Airport and Newark. Amtrak is expensive compared to NJ Transit/SEPTA but is more convenient and must faster.

How to get to Philadelphia by train from Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

There are two ways to get to travel between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia by train.

• Amtrak: Amtrak has several trains from Harrisburg to Philadelphia every day. Amtrak has a couple of direct trains between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia daily as well. These trains are not that expensive compared to taking the train to New York City or Washington DC. On the way the Amtrak trains stop at towns like Paoli, Exton and Downingtown that are suburbs of Philadelphia. I have taken the Amtrak train from the 30th Street Station to Downingtown several times. It is the best way to get to the Western suburbs. The ride takes only 35 minutes and costs about $13.

• Amtrak via Washington DC: You can also travel between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia via Washington DC using Amtrak. This is an option to consider, if you are not able to get tickets on the direct train between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

How to get to Philadelphia by train from Delaware.

There are two ways to travel by train from Delaware to Philadelphia.

• Amtrak: All Amtrak trains to Philadelphia from the Washington DC area will stop at Wilmington. Wilmington to Philadelphia is just a 15 minute ride on Amtrak.

• SEPTA Regional Rail: SEPTA has a regional rail service from Newark/Wilmington to Philadelphia. The train will stop at the 30th Street Station, Suburban Station and Jefferson Station. This train (SEPTA R2 line) will take about one hour to reach Philadelphia from Wilmington!

How to get to Philadelphia by train from Baltimore and Washington DC.

• Amtrak: Amtrak is the only option to travel between Philadelphia and Baltimore/Washington DC by train. Prices will vary depending on the type of Amtrak train. Acela is the fastest and the most expensive. I have traveled this segment a lot (because of my work). The trains for the most part run on time and there is a train almost every 20 to 30 minutes. New York City-Philadelphia-Washington is perhaps the busiest route for Amtrak.

How to get to Philadelphia by train from the suburbs of Washington DC (Virginia).

• DC Metro Orange Line/Amtrak: The Orange Line (part of Washington DC Metro) runs from (Vienna-Fairfax GMU). to New Carrollton (Maryland). Many Amtrak trains from Philadelphia to Washington DC will stop at New Carrollton as well. Orange Line connects to pretty much all other DC Metro lines. This is by far the best way to travel from the suburbs of Washington DC to Philadelphia (I have a friend of mine who lives near Fairfax and I take visit him a few times a year).

• Amtrak: There are several Amtrak trains that travel from New York City to the Southern parts of the United States including Florida, New Orleans and the Carolinas. These trains pass through Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC as well. Many of these trains stop at Manassas. There is a catch. These long distance Amtrak trains will stop at the Washington DC Union Station for about 40 minutes to switch the engine from Diesel to Electric. So my preferred method is to take the Amtrak/DC Metro Orange Line to New Carrollton and take Amtrak from there to Philadelphia.

How to get to Philadelphia by train from the Philadelphia Airport.

SEPTA has a train from the Philadelphia International Airport to the 30th Street Station, Suburban Station and Jefferson Station. This line is known as the R1 line. You can get on this line from most of the airport terminals.

Have you taken the train to Philadelphia? What is your favorite thing to do in Philadelphia?

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