AutoTrain Boarding

[bbappel]

I've searched to no avail. We are booked on the AutoTrain Southbound for the first time in January. We wonder what is the earliest we are allowed to board the train. We plan to check our auto in at the earlier time. Are we allowed to board early? Until then, is there a waiting room? With the new variant, I'm more fearful of indoor crowds. At the same time, Lorton in January doesn't seem a place to wait outdoors. Any help is appreciated.

 

[jis]

The waiting area is a very large hall with very high ceilings and very good air circulation for what it may be worth... (linked photo from Wikimedia Commons)

 

[joelkfla]

I've seen several reports that boarding is available around 2:30 pm, which I believe is also the cut-off for check-in. I wouldn't wait until exactly 2:30 to check in, but maybe around 2 pm.

Note that dinner reservations are assigned at check-in, so arriving towards the end of the check-in window would likely get you a late dinner time.

 

[ET2020]

I've searched to no avail. We are booked on the AutoTrain Southbound for the first time in January. We wonder what is the earliest we are allowed to board the train. We plan to check our auto in at the earlier time. Are we allowed to board early? Until then, is there a waiting room? With the new variant, I'm more fearful of indoor crowds. At the same time, Lorton in January doesn't seem a place to wait outdoors. Any help is appreciated.

We wrestled with the same thing this past January, and will now go through it again in a couple weeks. We arrived around 11:45, and parked at the small exterior lot, not checking in through the main window. Then I walked into the terminal to get my boarding confirmation and select our dining time. At that time, there was no choice to eat in the dining car, and I'm afraid it might be the same way this coming January also. Once I checked us in, we drove to a nearby shopping center, and had lunch in our car. Then we drove back to the terminal around 1:45, and we sat on the benched outside of our sleeper car until boarding began, so as to avoid crowds indoors. (It was cold, but bearable. Let's hope the mild weather holds out for us this time around).

FYI - I was just checking the Train Status page, and AutoTrain delays have been worsening day by day for the past several days, and the 12/24-Christmas Eve Train is now showing as CANCELLED !
That's got to be horrible for anyone booked on that day.

 

[PVD]

Do they still have the shuttle bus to the Sanford business/shopping strip?

 

[ET2020]

Do they still have the shuttle bus to the Sanford business/shopping strip?

I'd like to know also ?? - It wasn't running January or February of 2021

 

[PVD]

The website says M-F but I'd call and confirm whether that is correct.

 

[pw1]

We wrestled with the same thing this past January, and will now go through it again in a couple weeks. We arrived around 11:45, and parked at the small exterior lot, not checking in through the main window. Then I walked into the terminal to get my boarding confirmation and select our dining time. At that time, there was no choice to eat in the dining car, and I'm afraid it might be the same way this coming January also. Once I checked us in, we drove to a nearby shopping center, and had lunch in our car. Then we drove back to the terminal around 1:45, and we sat on the benched outside of our sleeper car until boarding began, so as to avoid crowds indoors. (It was cold, but bearable. Let's hope the mild weather holds out for us this time around).

FYI - I was just checking the Train Status page, and AutoTrain delays have been worsening day by day for the past several days, and the 12/24-Christmas Eve Train is now showing as CANCELLED !
That's got to be horrible for anyone booked on that day.

I have done the same thing in Lorton - going to the small parking lot to get boarding confirmation then going for lunch
Does anyone know if the incoming train is late as it had been the few weeks ago arriving after 11 - will the people with reservations that day receive any type of alert? I would imagine they do not want incoming cars lining up at 11 if the train has not yet arrived.