Special $19 Tickets Now Available for New Route From Norfolk to DC

imageTo celebrate the new Amtrak Virginia service to/ from Norfolk, a special fare of only $19 is available for tickets between Norfolk and Washington, DC through December 30.   Tickets are available at this price starting today, including for the historic inaugural train on December 12.

            The new fare special was announced at a press conference today in Norfolk.  The $19 introductory fare is valid for trips between Norfolk and Washington, DC and all intermediate cities including Petersburg, Richmond, Ashland, Fredericksburg, Quantico, Woodbridge and Alexandria.  Travel must be booked by December 17 for travel between December 12 and December 30.  Advance reservations are required a minimum of one day prior to travel.  This offer is valid for travel on Trains 71, 88, 125, 157 and 174 only.  Additional restrictions apply.

            This new daily service will provide a same-seat trip from Norfolk to Washington, DC, Baltimore, New York City and more.  Passengers may book travel via AmtrakVirginia.com, the Amtrak iPhone app or the Amtrak Android app, or by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL

 

Here’s what to expect:

Getting ready to ride

Discounts on tickets are available for veterans, active-duty military and their families, senior citizens and AAA members. High school and college students can buy an Amtrak Student Advantage Card for $20 and save 15 percent on trips. As many as two children age 2 to 15, per adult, can ride for half off. Reservations can be made at Amtrak.com or by calling 800-USA-RAIL.

Each passenger can bring two carry-on bags that weigh no more than 50 pounds each. The Norfolk train will not take checked luggage.

Passengers can bring food and nonalcoholic beverages. The Norfolk train will not have a dining car, but there will be a cafe car, offering breakfast items, sandwiches, pizza, snacks, sodas and alcoholic drinks.

How to get there

The train will leave next to the parking lot on the east side of Harbor Park. Parking is available at $5 a day in Lot D.

Departure times are 4:50 a.m. on weekdays and 6:05 a.m. on weekends. Folks who want to avoid an early trip should consider leaving later in the day on one of the two trains that serve Newport News. Those passengers could still return to Norfolk on the inbound train. Bus service between the Newport News station and Harbor Park will connect the two.

Amtrak will make its nightly arrival in Norfolk, around 8:50 p.m. Sundays through Fridays and 11:48 p.m. Saturdays.

The trip

There are no assigned seats. Passengers must claim spots when they board

Norfolk passengers can go as far as Boston without switching trains. Amtrak estimates that trip to take 13 hours and 40 minutes.

Free Wi-Fi will be available, but first-time passengers may want to spend more time looking out their window than at a screen. The Norfolk train will run south of Harbor Park, across the Elizabeth River and on toward Suffolk, where it will pass through rural Western Tidewater along U.S. 460 toward its first stop, the Ettrick station by Petersburg, and on to Richmond.

Norfolk passengers can also go south, but they have to switch trains in Richmond and endure a 5-hour layover before departing to North Carolina.

The train will average 40 mph to 45 mph between Norfolk and Richmond. Speeds will max out at 79 mph in Virginia and 135 mph along a stretch north of Washington.

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