Hi everyone. I just accepted a new job in Wilmington, DE with a hybrid schedule that requires me to be in the office once a week. Since I don't really want to move to Wilmington and have a lot of friends in New Jersey/NY, I am considering a move to Jersey City.

I know that the commute is going to be long, but I was thinking about taking the amtrak to get to Wilmington (the company will pay for the tickets). Has anyone here traveled to Wilmington via amtrak? How reliable is it overall and how long does it take to get to the destination?

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Nexis4Jersey t1_je5pe2b wrote on March 29, 2023 at 4:29 PM

It's about 90 mins from Newark to Wilmington , it's doable once or twice a week any more than that, and I'd just move to Wilmington or Philly. Philly is an hour by SEPTA from Wilmington or a hr from NYC on Amtrak...and much cheaper than living in JC.

dsarma t1_je5yg2s wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:26 PM

If you have to go on Amtrak, why go to JC? Newark would be cheaper, and you'd be right by Newark Penn.

ianisms10 t1_je5z22a wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:29 PM

Because Jersey City is much nicer than Newark, and it's not that far

dsarma t1_je5zmkf wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:33 PM

I mean, so is Manhattan, but that's also not gonna happen. Jersey City's gotten expensive enough now that places in Brooklyn are starting to look affordable, which is depressing.

Cashneto t1_je5ns5h wrote on March 29, 2023 at 4:19 PM

I go to Baltimore, MD from Newark once a month. It's pretty easy, one train and takes about 3 hours. Wilmington, DE is on the way. I would suggest getting 1st class tickets, it's much nicer. The train is reliable and has priority over NJ Transit, etc on the tracks (they share the same track lines).

remarkability t1_je6v51g wrote on March 29, 2023 at 8:54 PM

Company-paid tickets are a decent perk; you generally get cheap tickets booked a month or so in advance, and there’s multi-trip ticket options (10 rides in a 45-day period) if you need to be last minute with which day you’re coming in. See r/Amtrak for more.

You’d be primarily taking the Northeast Regional or Acela, both are about as reliable as can be if all is well with the Hudson tunnels.

As far as travel time, that depends on where in JC you’d live and what time you’d need to get to Newark (or NYC) by.

Getting to Newark from JC is easiest if you live a short walk one of the WTC-Newark PATH stops (Journal Sq, Grove St, Exchange Pl). Weekday morning frequencies are around every 5 mins, and budget some time to get around in Newark Penn. It’s harder if you have a connecting bus to the PATH.

Otherwise, it’s not a bad option either to live in NYC and go via NY Penn. Two options for pretty similar cost, these days.

thebruns t1_je7a76y wrote on March 29, 2023 at 10:39 PM

Terrible idea. Amtrak is not reliable enough for a commute. Live in Philly.

h00dybaba t1_je5ogdd wrote on March 29, 2023 at 4:23 PM

I havent travelled on Amtrak, but they are mostly on time while i was waiting for NJTransit train to NYC. Check the Amtrak website for tracking time. NJTransit and Amtrak share track(Amtrak owns the track) between NYC and Trenton.

From Jersey city you have to take PATH train to Newark penn and catch Amtrak. Try google map with transit option

Doowrag t1_je6icdo wrote on March 29, 2023 at 7:32 PM

I just took Amtrak to DC over Presidents’ Day weekend and I left my car at the Metropark station because Amtrak stops there, and there is plenty of parking. The train was 15 minutes late but maybe that was because the holiday weekend.