Amtrak is adding private rooms to overnightNortheast Regional trains between Washington, DC and Boston this spring.- Three types of rooms are offered including a roomette, bedroom, and accessible bedroom.
- The longest journey is nine hours and 58 minutes from Washington to Boston.
The overnight trains between Washington, DC, and Boston are getting slightly more bearable with upgrades coming this spring.
Amtrak will offer private rooms on late-night Northeast Regional trains running between Washington and Boston starting in April. The once-daily trains already depart in the evening and arrive in the early morning after a near-10-hour journey in each direction but have been limited to standard coach class and business class seats.
Three types of bedrooms will be offered for purchase including the Viewliner roomette, bedroom, and accessible bedroom. The smallest and narrowest room is the roomette with dimensions of three feet and six inches wide and up to six feet and eight inches long.
Starting at $288 for one traveler on the full route, the roomette offers two seats that convert into sleeping berths at night stacked vertically. Shower and restroom facilities, however, are not located in the room and are shared in the car.
The bedroom is double the size of the roomette with a width of up to six feet and eight inches and a length of up to seven feet and six inches. It offers a sofa and adjacent armchair for seating and two berths stacked vertically for sleeping, as well as a private shower, sink, and restroom.
An accessible option for the bedroom is also available with an in-room sink and restroom but no in-room shower. The accessible shower is located elsewhere in the train car.
All rooms come with a dedicated attendant and access to Amtrak's lounges in Boston and Washington. The Metropolitan Lounge, formerly known as ClubAcela, is comparable to an airline lounge at an airport with complimentary food, drinks, and snacks available for Amtrak's top customers, as Insider found during a visit to New York's brand-new Moynihan Train Hall at Pennsylvania Station.
Travelers also receive a complimentary alcoholic beverage after boarding and a continental breakfast before arrival in Boston and Washington. Bedding, towels, linens, and pillows are all included in the room rate so customers don't have to worry about bringing their own.
Washington to Boston service on train 66 departs
Boston to Washington service on train 67 departs South Station at 9:30 p.m. and arrives in New York at 2:30 a.m. followed by Washington at 7 a.m. for a journey time of nine hours and 30 minutes. On Fridays and Saturdays, however, times differ and the service is offered as train 65.
The journey times are markedly slower than the daytime trains. A standard trip from Washington to Boston on the Regional, for example, is only around eight hours - a two-hour difference from the overnighter. Acela still provides the fastest service between the two cities, with average journey times of under seven hours.
Trains will also still make station stops at numerous intermediary points along the corridor like New Haven, Connecticut; Wilmington, Delaware; and Trenton, New Jersey, as well as a 45-minute layover in New York City. Travelers can book the rooms for any stretch of the journey.
The first private room-equipped trains run on April 5 and are now bookable on Amtrak's website.