Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 22:57:18 -0500
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
From: Elspeth Kovar <ekovar at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Travel question
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

At 12:19 PM 12/20/04, Paul Haggerty wrote:
>I have to go to a conference in January and will be flying out of BWI.
>
>However this time driving up to Baltimore isn't going to be a good
>option.   I've heard that there is a train from the D.C. area (maybe
>Greenbelt) that goes up to the airport.
>
>Does anyone know about it?
>
>Where do I pick it up? (Metro?)
>How much does it cost?
>Do I have to book in advance?
>Roughly how long does it take?
>
>Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This came up very recently on a different list, as folks were flying in to
BWI to get to SMOFcon.  Rather than trying to figure out which parts of the
answer you've already been given I'll just do the whole thing.

There's a Amtrak/MARC station near BWI and a free shuttle that runs between
the station and the airport.  You can catch both Amtrak and MARC trains at
Union station and at New Carrollton.  Both trains take about half an hour
from Union Station to the BWI station.

Amtrak trains -generally- run every hour but some are reserved trains,
meaning you have to have a ticket for that particular train.  I've
sometimes been lucky and gotten a ticket on a reserved train simply by
showing up 20 minutes beforehand and asking at the window but sometimes
haven't.  Unreserved tickets, which you can get just by getting a ticket on
any unreserved train via the website, are good on any unreserved
train.  One-way fares are $13 but I think that promotion code H431 is still
in effect, which will give you 10% off your ticket price if you book online.

MARC trains usually only run during rush hour but at $8 are cheaper.

http://www.wmata.com/
http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/marc/
http://www.bwiairport.com/
http://www.amtrak.com/

Elspeth