How to travel with a child on the NE regional trains departing from NYP?

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fhussain44

Train Attendant
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
87
My understanding is these trains have no special boarding for families. The gate gets announced on a screen and then there is a mad rush to the single escalator to board the train. In a matter of minutes the entire train gets filled up. Even the mid-day trains seem busy. Is there some way to get special pre-boarding ? Or any tips to increase chance of getting an empty seat?
 
There is assigned seating for those in Business Class. It may be worth the upgrade. Alternatively, I believe that redcaps board early. You could get a redcap (with or without luggage) to bring you to the train early. The tip you pay may be less than the amount to upgrade to BC.
 
pennyk said:
Alternatively, I believe that redcaps board early. You could get a redcap (with or without luggage) to bring you to the train early. The tip you pay may be less than the amount to upgrade to BC.
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Didn't @me_little_me say that redcaps didn't board early? Now, he was boarding the Crescent instead of a NER.
 
Cal said:
Didn't @me_little_me say that redcaps didn't board early? Now, he was boarding the Crescent instead of a NER.
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I have used Redcaps to board early in NYP (from the old Penn Station) in the past prior to reserved seating in BC. Things may be different now.
 
pennyk said:
I have used Redcaps to board early in NYP (from the old Penn Station) in the past prior to reserved seating in BC. Things may be different now.
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Whoops, I meant @MARC Rider (I always get them confused for some reason).

HIs experience is in this thread. He said:

I had requested a redcap to ensure preboarding. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to work here. For one thing, I noticed that whereas in the old station, they announced the track number in the lounge long before they announced it to the general public. Here, the announced the track number to the lounge and the general public at the same time. They actually didn't call those of us for redcaps until boarding was already underway, and the redcap wasn't even in the lounge. This wouldn't be a big deal to people in sleepers because, of course, their space is already reserved, but I was traveling coach, and I wanted first dibs on a decent seat. Thus, I told the desk that I wouldn't be needing a redcap after all, and dashed downstairs to get to the platform."
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Cal said:
Whoops, I meant @MARC Rider (I always get them confused for some reason).

HIs experience is in this thread. He said:
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I wonder if getting a redcap from the general waiting area would be different from getting a redcap from the new lounge. Joe's experience is much more recent that mine, since mine was from the old lounge in the old Penn Station.
 
pennyk said:
I wonder if getting a redcap from the general waiting area would be different from getting a redcap from the new lounge. Joe's experience is much more recent that mine, since mine was from the old lounge in the old Penn Station.
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It's definitely possible, and this was for the Crescent. NER's might have a different process.
 
The Acela I boarded from the Lounge in May was announced early by the Atrendant before being Posted on the Board, and Red Caps came early for a couple of Folks, but I didn't use one since it's so easy to go down the Escelators to Train side from the Downstairs Hall.

Perhaps the NEC Regionals and LD Trains are handled differently, Joe has been there since I was.
 
Cal said:
Didn't @me_little_me say that redcaps didn't board early? Now, he was boarding the Crescent instead of a NER.
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Not me. In fact, I once got boarded so early, the car attendant was shocked to find us already on the train and, like the usual I'm-in-charge, huffed and puffed because the redcap had put us aboard. Getting a redcap is a wonderful idea and we have used them even when not carrying a lot of luggage.
 
me_little_me said:
Not me. In fact, I once got boarded so early, the car attendant was shocked to find us already on the train and, like the usual I'm-in-charge, huffed and puffed because the redcap had put us aboard. Getting a redcap is a wonderful idea and we have used them even when not carrying a lot of luggage.
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Yeah, mistook you for Marc Rider.
 
I've used the redcaps dozens of times for preboarding. They are delighted to do it. $5 or $10 depending on how cheerful they are and how much real baggage they schlep. I've done it with a single small backpack and nobody bats an eye. They just throw it on their cart. Usually works like a charm. We had one report here recently of the redcaps boarding late, but that would be an exception.
 
My recent experience with redcaps may have been a one-off due to the increased passenger loads and possible shortage of redcaps. (If they had let a bunch go during the pandemic, maybe they are still trying to hire new ones.) This was also from the lounge, and not from the general boarding area. My past experience in the old station, even from the lounge, was that the redcaps would come early and got you down to the platform early. Sometimes we'd be down there before the train came in.

Also, this was the Crescent and it was my first experience boarding a long-distance train at Penn Station.
 
One trick I would also recommend is choosing a Northeast Regional that originates in Penn Station and not one that's coming from Boston or Springfield. It should be easier to find searing on a train entering the station empty.
 
When I was a little kid and I took the NortheastDirect with my mom to NYC we'd usually get on and off at New Rochelle as it was less chaotic than NYP but we were also ultimately heading to The Bronx so NRO was basically equidistant time-wise by taxi.
 

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