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This spring, some friends of mine will be driving to East Brunswick, NJ, on a weekday to drop off an elderly lady at the home of some of her family members. Since it is around Eastertime, my friends have decided to take their preteen son and visit Washington DC as well (they have never been there). Probably that afternoon (though possibly the next morning), they would like to go on to DC by train and spend 5-6 days as tourists before returning, again on a weekday, to their car and to pick up the lady again in East Brunswick. Their hope is to take Amtrak from the most convenient station and if possible, to leave their car in a safe-and-not-super-expensive long-term (I guess it has to be long-term, for 5-6 days, right?) parking place near the station, where they can be fairly sure of obtaining parking even though they most likely will be arriving in the early afternoon; if that is not possible, they could probably get a lift to the train station from the people with whom they are dropping off the elderly lady and if necessary even take a taxi back to the car on the homebound trip; however, those people in East Brunswick know zilch about train travel and cannot advise my friends about anything (probably not even directions to the train station, though I guess they could find that out!)--which is why I told my friends I'd post their queries here.
They are interested in taking a less expensive NE corridor regional, on which I believe their son can get a discount; although they might consider ACELA if it saves a lot of time and isn't too high. They might also be willing to take NJ Transit to Trenton or someplace to catch the Amtrak, BUT they will have luggage and are not very interested in being on a crowded commuter train with it (especially true if they go in the morning, I imagine).
So, does anyone have any advice!?!?! I am not very up on NJ Transit but I know Princeton Junction does not have a lot of Amtraks--no idea how far Metropark is from E Brunswick--and no idea at all about parking situation in any of these places.
Thank you so very much for the assistance!
rresor Member # 128
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Metropark is in Iselin, NJ, right where the Garden State Parkway crosses the NEC. Shouldn't be too long a trip from East Brunswick, and there's lots of parking close to the station.
Other options would be New Brunswick or Princeton Junction. PJ has lots of parking, but not a lot of Amtrak service (although you can check schedules).
You'll need to check the Amtrak Web site for the price differential between Acela Express and Regional. Some AEs do stop at Metropark, but the AE fare is usually more than double that for the regional trains.
I wouldn't bother taking NJT to Trenton. The distance taper on Amtrak fares is such that it won't be much more expensive to take the train directly from Metropark to WAS than from Trenton. Metropark would be my choicel.
Have a good trip!
sojourner Member # 3134
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Thanks, RResor. Metropark it is! I'll relay the info.
I just had another important question: Can they pick up Amtrak tickets at Metropark? I know at some of the Metro North/Amtrak stations you cannot pick up Amtrak tickets!
MDRR Member # 2992
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Metropark handles Amtrak ticketing, no problem.
sojourner Member # 3134
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Didn't know who would respond, so I actually decided to phone Amtrak to find out about the ticketing situation, and Amtrak told me that there is not problem with that. Then I checked about parking, just to be safe, and sure enough, there IS a BIG problem with parking in early afternoon--according to Amtrak's info, there is lots of construction and parking is often not available at Metropark after 9AM. The parking garage (I also checked)said there is often a big problem on Wednesday afternoon as it often fills up in the morning (and remember, this is Wed before Easter/Passover, don't know if that makes it busier or not, but maybe lots of people going into NYC from NJ). It's also $9 a day longterm parking.
So, unless they can leave there car with the people where they are dropping off the woman and get a lift from them (don't know if they could, both ways on a weekday, as those people might both be working) I think they are going to wind up not using Amtrak but driving all the way to DC. Of course, parking there is likely more money . . .
rresor Member # 128
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Didn't know about the construction at Metropark, but yes, parking is $9 per day. There is parking at Trenton as well, but it's also expensive and getting to downtown Trenton is a bit complicated. The NJT station at Hamilton, NJ has lots of parking, but only NJT trains stop there and you'd have to ride one station to Trenton and then transfer to Amtrak. Hamilton, however, is right off the I-95 Sloan Ave. exit.
If driving to DC (not a nice drive), one possibility is to park in the Metro parking garage at New Carrolton (right off Route 50 and the Beltway) for $4 per day and take Metro into the city. There is parking right at Union Station, and they do give a discount if you buy something (like, say, a meal) but long-term it gets expensive.
train lady Member # 3920
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another possibility would be to leave the car at the home of the people being visited and take a cab to the station. Reverse coming home. We have done this for visitors.
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