Baltimore Travel Forum

Hi, my partner and I are moving to Baltimore. We currently live/work in Philly and DC, and for at least the next couple of years will be sticking with our jobs. So, we're both trying to find the best mix of quick, yet economical commuting routes. We know we'll use the MARC for the DC commute, but it's the Philly one that's difficult...it looks like most of the older posts recommend Amtrak, but that has skyrocketed from $500 to $944 since those last posts! Any other suggestions? Even if you know an easy way to get to the Wilmington Septa station, that might be helpful...we can take the Regional Rail from there!

Thanks!

I have neighbors where one commutes to DC and the other to Phila. There may be a way to take the MARC train north to Perryville, and then figure out how to get to Wilmo from there, but I'm not so sure how that would work w/o a car. I think it would make for an incredibly grueling commute, but I know there were commuters from Wilmington on the MARC train when I took it--daily, for eight loooooong years!

Anyway, if you need help with Baltimore, feel free to email me here.

MARC doesn't go to Wilmington. SEPTA between Wilmington and Philly's 30th St. Station takes almost an hour. There is only one express train a day, and even that takes something like 40 minutes. If you really want to keep your job in Philly, Amtrak is really the only way to go without losing your mind entirely. Your only other option is to drive, and at rush hour, it will take well over 2 hours each way. Driving into Philly at rush hour in the morning and out in the afternoon is a nightmare, not quite as bad as the DC Beltway, but close.

My BF commutes on occasion on SEPTA between Philly to Wilmo (where I live). I commute on occasion by car from his house in NE Philly to my job in downtown Wilmington. I do the commute in reverse, and that takes about 45 minutes each way at rush hour.

Now, I'm curious! Perryville must be like a half hour drive from Newark. Does the SEPTA go there?

SEPTA only goes as far as Newark. Perryville is probably a half-hour's drive away. You cannot do this commute by MARC/SEPTA at all, because if you take the one northbound MARC from Baltimore to Perryville in the morning, it arrives in Perryville at 8:46 AM. The last SEPTA from Newark to Philly in the morning leaves at 8:58 and arrives in Philly 10:10. So not only is your commute physically impossible, it also takes something like 3.5 hours each way...and you'll get about two hours at the office before you have to turn around and go home.

Pay for Amtrak, drive 2.5-3 hours each way every day in terrible traffic, or get a new job. I know which one I would pick!

Julie,

Do you think the OP will ever come back to see our brilliant responses? ;-)

Doubtful. But since I am sitting in a nice lounge at the Westin Warsaw with a glass of white wine and unlimited free cashew nuts, I don't mind taking the time to do someone else's research for them. :-)

enjoy!

Ha! I'm back...the OP! You know, what with the moving this weekend and all, and my computer getting messed up during that, I forgot which forum I'd posted my question to! I finally ended up Googling aljones13 to find it!

Yeah, I'm doing the Amtrak thing for now. I drove the first two days, because I'm used to coming from DC on Monday mornings, but that got old real quick. Couple of accidents on 95 let me know that was a bad idea. I'm loving Amtrak for now, but I'm sure once I start needing all the money I'm spending, I'll have second thoughts. I did check out the MARC/SEPTA thing earlier though...nope. My partner catches the MARC to DC though...and gets an hour more sleep a day!

Ah well, such is life!

Thanks!

Hi all! In case you were wondering how this turned out...I've been doing the commute for 2 months now, and although it has it's rough days (this morning in the snow), it's really not bad. Amtrak has been running relatively on time, and I've come to find out that I have maybe a 10-minute longer commute than my coworkers who live in Jersey! But I sleep the whole way in! I don't feel like my commute is any worse than it ever has been...I still have mornings I don't want to get up and come in, just like everyone else, but at least I don't have to deal with other people on the road on those days!

It IS a bit expensive, but I've gotten some discounts, and I'm racking up Guest Rewards points almost every day, so I think it will be worth it.

Thanks for all the suggestions, and I hope this helps someone else out!

Many thanks for reporting back!