The Guessing Game at Penn, Then the Rush
This DCist was in New York this weekend, and like anyone who frequents Amtrak's Northeast Corridor between Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Penn Station in Manhattan, we know the drill while waiting for trains. In Union Station, lines can snake down the concourse prior to boarding. At Penn Station, people in the waiting room stand patiently underneath the departure and arrival board for the track number to be announced, as classical music plays through the public address system elsewhere in the station. Then once the train is ready, a track announcement is made and there's a rush to the corresponding escalator to get to the front of the line. Then it's a mad dash to descend deeper into the bowels of the station and quick rush down the platform to secure seats. (If you're going to be taking a cab at Union Station, it's best to get to the front of the train at Penn Station so you can be among the first people to make their way through Union Station and to the front of the taxi queue.)
But yesterday at Penn Station, train No. 167, which was supposed to take us back to Washington at 9:05 p.m., was an hour and a half late. And the people started to get antsy.
After waiting around in the Acela waiting area (open to everyone since mechanical problems have grounded the Acela fleet) there was an announcement sometime around 10:30 p.m. that the train was 5-10 minutes from the station. There was a rush to the arrival/departure board to await further announcements and the positioning began for the Penn Station escalator game.
Anyone who has made the trip more than once knows the process. Before the track announcement is made, clumps of people position themselves by particular escalators in the chance that your chosen escalator is called (we like to put our money on tracks 13/14). Others put themselves strategically in the middle in order to have quick access to all potential escalators queues. Because the last Sunday night train to D.C. is normally always crowded and you want a seat.
Some potential indicators signs to look for:
-- If you're on a D.C.-bound train and know that it originated in New England, then it's going to let passengers off. If you know that a particular train from Boston, St. Albans, Vt., etc. is running late into Penn Station, then it's probably that train that will whisk you back to Washington. If you can figure out the track of the arriving train, then simply move your way to that escalator.
Typically you should keep your thoughts quiet to avoid provoking the crowd into a stampede. Last night, however, a group of women, before the track announcement was made, somehow figured it out, and worn out by waiting, screamed and rushed over to the escalator for track 15/16 in "The Empire Strikes Back"- fashion, as if it was the last transport to evacuate the rebel base on the ice planet of Hoth. (Well it was the last train to leave New York ...)
Soon enough, there was a mass rush of confused people, with foreigners asking us whether the train for Washington had arrived. Nobody knew for sure why the women rushed over when they did. But regardless, the ticket checker at the escalator was pissed off with the sea of humanity that had crowded around the escalator. He was calling for one orderly queue. But there was no stopping the crowd. Everyone wanted to get into D.C. ... and we did, sometime around 2:30 a.m.
>> This DCist writing for a now-defunct blog on our 17 hour Amtrak train ride to Chicago from D.C.