The best way to travel between Washington, D.C. and Manhattan is Amtrak. But how would it be with a bicycle?
amtrak.com: Bring Your Bicycle Onboard
Purchasing my ticket
When I made up my mind to go to the 2026 Five Boro Bike Tour, I purchased roundtrip Amtrak tickets for that weekend. Including insurance and $20 bike fee, that came to about $160. For what it’s worth, TollGuru suggested it would cost the following in tolls and gas for my specific make a model:
$89.19 northbound
$71.29 southbound
= 160.48 roundtrip1
So, the price is almost exactly the same and that’s before parking is factored in and it’s faster.
Like I said, it’s Amtrak is the best way to New York from D.C.2
A complication
A few weeks before my ticket, my train to New York was cancelled. This was a surprise and cause for concern. I was unable to resolve the issue through amtrak.com or the chatbot, so I called customer service.3
My first call was unsatisfactory, the associated was unable to reschedule me at the same or lower rate. I ended the call and planned on calling again. The next time, during the regular business day instead of the evening, I was able to get a more helpful associate. The big difference was my trip was now scheduled for 7:20 a.m., instead of 10:00 a.m. There are pros and cons for either time, but I think leaving earlier worked out well enough.
Getting to Union Station
When my departure was scheduled for 10:00 a.m., I had planned to bike to one of the Yellow Line Alexandria stations4, get on Metro and then bike over from Gallery Place to Union Station. Since I had to be at Union Station before 7 a.m., that was just too early. So, I parked near one, bike over with everything in a backpack and jumped on Metro.
As planned, I exited at Gallery Place-Chinatown and headed the half mile or so to Union Station.
RELATED: Taking a bicycle on MARC trains
Starting on the journey
I checked in and discussed with Amtrak staff what I needed to do. Passengers with bicyclists were given priority boarding though I was sent back to the ticket desk for a tag. Another passenger noted it was the first time that happened.
Boarding at Union Station was disorganized. The first conductor encountered sent us back to the baggage car. Five other cyclists and I waited for conductor. With about 3 minutes before our announced departure, a conductor arrived and we were able to out our bikes on.
That was simple enough and we were able to hang them without removing our front wheel. It also explained the tag. Then we had to move up several cars to find seats
Leaving late
The 7:20 a.m. train left at 8:02 a.m. At 7:53 a.m. we received this communication:
Delay Notification: As of 7:53 AM ET, Train 98 is currently delayed departing Washington (WAS) due to a mechanical assessment. We appreciate your patience during this process and are committed to providing additional details as soon as they become available. For customers waiting to board this train, please be aware that departure estimates are subject to change. If conditions allow, a train delayed past its scheduled departure time may leave earlier than the updated estimate. To avoid missing your train, please stay near the boarding area and monitor for announcements or updates.
Not ideal – we left 42 minutes late, but 2ish hours than originally planned.
That’s two fairly significant complications and if I had been on a schedule5, I’d have been pretty frustrated.
The ride itself was uneventful and I even dosed off a bit somewhere outside of Baltimore. I hadn’t taken Amtrak to New York since 2009 (and only one other time prior to that), so I was mostly looking out the window. I wouldn’t mind the ride becoming routine enough that I could nap more…
RELATED: Moynihan Train Hall improves New York’s Penn Station
The ride back
Returning home, I left on the 6:05 p.m. train southbound. The only “drama” of the trip was waiting to find out which track my train was departing on. There was less than 15 minutes notice.
On this ride, there wasn’t baggage car storage, so I had to take my front wheel off and hang my bike up. Since I was a little tired, I forgot to take a photograph of it. This video shows what needed to be done:
Oops, I had my bike on backwards…
The train arrived on-time at Union Station and this time, I jumped on the Red Line to transfer at Gallery Place. I wasn’t up for navigating city streets in the dark after all the travel and 50ish miles of cycling earlier.
Would I do it again?
Even with some hassles, this is still the best way to go to New York from DC. I hope to do it again, though I wouldn’t mind leaving later going up and might leave earlier coming back.
I suppose the bigger question is if I would take the train to the Philadelphia for the Philly Bike Ride. The two times I did that, I drove and stayed near the airport. If I took Amtrak, I’d likely stay in Center City and that costs more. I’ll have to do the analysis the next time.
Footnotes
- It would have been slightly cheaper for me between shunpiking and probably avoiding the Manhattan congestion zone, but parking would have made up for it and then some. ↩︎
- It’s also the best way to travel between DC and Richmond ↩︎
- I also pondered driving up to Metropark or some other station in New Jersey and then taking NJ Transit in. That would have been a pain and more expensive. ↩︎
- Since trains on the Northeast Corridor are electric and all trains south and west are diesel, it’s not worth catching a train at Alexandria Union Station. The locomotive switch takes some time. ↩︎
- I considered going to the Yankees game that day, but a 1:05 start and $70ish ticket made it a simple decision to skip. A 4:05 start might have been a different story, but generally, I don’t want to spend $70 to go to a ballgame by myself… ↩︎