An Amtrak employee demonstrates bike placement on NE Regional trains
Earlier this week, Amtrak began accepting bicycles on all NE Regional Trains, allowing passengers to bring unboxed standard bicycles to any station between Boston and Washington DC.
Starting on September 15th, bicycles will also be carried on all Keystone Trains to Harrisburg, Empire Service Trains from NY Penn Station to Albany and Niagara Falls, NY, and on the Hartford Line from New Haven, CT to Springfield, MA.
Amtrak charges $20 for your bike per train (connecting to another train = $40). The max number of bicycles currently allowed is two bikes per train but will be expanded as more rail cars are retrofitted with the bike racks in the photo above (note the front wheel removal). Many of Amtrak’s long distance trains such as The Pennsylvanian from New York and Philadelphia to Pittsburgh already allow up to 6 bicycles to be carried for the same $20 fee.
We hope that Amtrak can adjust these fees for short distance trips. For example, the one way from Philadelphia to Parkesburg, PA is just $14. For these trips folding bikes are still your best bet on Amtrak. You can carry them for free in lieu of one piece of luggage on any train including the Acela Express.
On the other hand, paying $40 round trip to bring along your own bike is less expensive than renting a bike at your destination.
Amtrak Bikes on Board Service Map (Expand)
To Book Your Trip with Your Bike:
- Go to Amtrak.com or use the Amtrak App
- Enter your itinerary
- An “add on” page for bikes and pets will appear.
- $20 is added to your fare.
If you are unable to make a bike reservation online you can add it to an existing reservation by calling Amtrak (1-800-USA-RAIL)