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| - Amtrak offers only two trains out of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvanian and the Capitol Limited, and I've ridden both of them. I rode the Capitol Ltd. to DC this past Feb. The biggest drawbacks of this train are the inconvenience of the arrival and departure times (PGH is in the middle of the route, which terminates in Chicago) and its tendency to be late. When I rode the Capitol Ltd., the worst part of the experience was its 5 hr. late arrival (10:30am)--I thought this train would never show up, but thank goodness, it finally did. Once we were on the train itself, it was good times. Since this is a long-distance train, it's a double decker and includes a dining car and lounge car. For the majority of the trip, I hung out in the lounge car and enjoyed the scenery, which was very pretty for most of the way. I also had lunch in the diner, and was pleased with the quality of the food (I had a chicken salad with fruit) and service. I found the seats, both in coach and in the lounge, fairly comfortable and the temperature acceptable. The diner and lounge also offer a great opportunity to mingle and chat, which I took advantage of, having conversations with several interesting people.
I've ridden the Pennsylvanian to Philly on several occasions to visit my family, who live in DE. Although I used to ride Megabus, the Pennsylvanian is now my preferred method of transportation to do so. The seats are much more spread out and comfortable than the seats on the Megabus (and you can actually get up and walk around!), the ride is extremely scenic, esp. west of Harrisburg, the wifi is pretty reliable (although it's only available in the vicinity of the cafe car) and, in my experience, the crews are much friendlier than the Megabus drivers. Also, although one of my bags is slightly over the allowable dimensions stated on the website, none of the crew members have ever complained, though the Megabus crews have given me trouble even though this bag is *under* their stated dimensions! The biggest drawbacks are that there's only one departure time (7:30am, earlier than I'd like, personally), and the fare price ($110, round trip). In addition to these, the temperature of the cars has been quite frigid on several occasions, so be sure to dress in layers or bring a blanket. I also recommend bringing snacks, since the offerings in the cafe car are limited and pricy. *Pro tip: The eastbound Pennsylvanian stops in Harrisburg at around 12:45pm for 15 min. for a smoke break, at which time it's possible to disembark from the train and buy lunch at the snack shop in the station, which has much more variety and is much more reasonably priced than the cafe car. *That is, if it's on time--if it's running late, all bets are off. The clientele is also more varied and generally a bit classier than the clientele of the Megabus (though I did get stuck between some rednecks on my last trip--I spent most of the time west of Harrisburg in the cafe car avoiding them). Although fares are more expensive than Megabus (by about $20-$30 round trip) and the trip is slightly longer due to more stopping, I don't mind paying more to have a more enjoyable experience, given that it's a long trip no matter which mode of transportation you take!
As for the PGH Amtrak station itself, it's not much to see, consisting of one room with no windows, a ticket counter, some bathrooms, and a TV (usually tuned to CNN). I recommend getting there 15-20 min. prior to departure time--just enough time to comfortably catch your train without becoming bored. However, if you're on the Capitol Ltd. and it's running late, you may get stuck here for awhile, so be prepared and bring some entertainment! 3.5 stars.
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