How to Ride the Amtrak Acela

Try to understand the Acela train route. The Acela train travels over the same route as that of the Northeast Corridor's route (from Boston's South Station to Washington's Union Station), making some major stops in cities between these stations from Boston, MA to Washington, DC including some major stops in New York (NY), Philadelphia(PA), Wilmington (DE), Baltimore (MD) and leading up to Washington (DC). Though multiple lines are running through and around the path where the Acela runs, there is only one single line to and from the places that the Acela will run on.

• Understand some of the other intended stops. It does make a few other stops on the line, especially from New York and points south. If it stops at one point, it won't stop at the other (look at Acela's timetable and watch these differences are affected). Although it has stops in Newark (never at Newark International Airport) and Metropark, NJ, if it stops at one station, it definitely won't stop at the other.
• It also takes up a few stops in Southern Massachusetts (not nearby Cape Cod), Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It does make a stop or two in Southern Westchester County (New Rochelle as being one of its biggest stops in New York).

Obtain a schedule of train departures and arrivals to see when and exactly where the Acela train will stop at the designated station. Amtrak no longer publishes paper schedules so that they may be obtained through the Amtrak Website. Although most often, the Acela will have a train coming through about once every hour, due to seasonal changes and other track maintenance/work and other unintended delays, its schedule can be delayed at times.

• Realize that the train may be stopped for up to one hour in New York, NY (Penn Station), as this stop is its largest and most regularly-boarded stop on the route. It will take them a while to debunk and collect passengers. Then they wait until the rest of the nearby track is clear (near the Hudson River crossing into New Jersey) and then take off again; all a process of about the hours wait. However, don't dilly-dally around when they say your train is "now boarding" from the timetable board.

Purchase a seat from the Amtrak website, via the Self Service kiosk, or another official Amtrak-approved method. Obtain some money to pay for the intended trip. It's best to pay for an Acela trip as soon as those days are available to be seen directly from Amtrak's website, as fares for those days are always cheaper, and will always cost more as the trip-date nears. For a trip from New York to Washington, most Acela trains will run you $200-$300 from your pocket (and even more if you request to be upgraded to First Class/Business).

Pick up your tickets a few days before the trip (if you haven't already thought about that differently). Be sure to print out your Amtrak "receipt" and scan it into the self-service TripTicket kiosk, or if the nearby stationmaster can assist you, most stations will be able to print you out your tickets from that specific itinerary. If purchased from the Amtrak mobile app or the Amtrak website, you can also have your tickets forwarded right to your virtual wallet on your phone.

Board your train when the station board says that your train is "Now Boarding" for that train number.