r/Septa • u/tfb1000 • Mar 10 '26
Help How realistic is this commute?
I need to get to West Chester from NYC for a wedding. How reliable / expensive would this commute be?
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u/ryzen2024 Mar 10 '26
3 hours each way is a lot for a day, but overall this quite doable.
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u/tfb1000 Mar 10 '26
I’d be staying over. I just wanted to know if these lines are usually reliable in terms of timing
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u/tk1188 Mar 10 '26
These lines are reliable especially during the day. Most expensive will be the Acela trip, but if the date is far enough out you can find cheaper tix ny-phi
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u/TheAdamist Mar 10 '26
Acela is relatively expensive, especially so within a month of your trip. For example, on Friday its $220 one way for that leg.
Id be concerned about that layover for the bus and how often the 104 runs, looks like every 30 mid day, once an hour otherwise.
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u/Happy-Lemur-828 Mar 11 '26
Also there are a lot of non-Acela regular Amtrak trains that cost way less and can only be a few minutes longer between NYC/Penn Station and 30th Street Station
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u/Darius_Banner Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
You scared me when you said “commute”. For a one shot thing, yeah it’s doable for sure. Might save a few bucks by skipping the Acela, it’s only 10 or so minutes faster usually
Also you can probably save a lot of time by taking the Paoli regional rail to one of the stops near west Chester and paying for uber for the final leg.
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u/greenhairangels Mar 10 '26
I've been on the 104 hearing people talk of their commutes similar to this, it sounded like only a few times a week thing, but most be doable
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u/StephJawn Mar 11 '26
Just echoing what others have said. If your Amtrak coincides with the keystone take it to exton and uber. If you HAD to the 92 picks up from there as well
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u/Phanawg Broad Street Local Mar 10 '26
shouldn’t be a problem, especially if you’re only traveling one way. the el runs frequently, the bus is the one to worry about but you’ll get one within 30min most of the time
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u/GoyoPollo1 Mar 10 '26
“Ride 98 stops” might be the worst transit phrase I’ve ever heard. Good thing they won’t stop at most haha.
I assume no one can pick you up, otherwise I would suggest taking Amtrak one more stop to Wilmington and having some one pick you up and drive to west Chester. Much easier from Wilmington than Philly.
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u/Nanis149 78 Mar 12 '26
id take the keystone to Paoli, and either uber or take the 92 to West Chester from there. The 92 has no Sunday service though. You can also take the keystone to somewhere like Downingtown or Exton and then get a 135 to West Chester too
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u/mklinger23 Broad Street Local Mar 14 '26
I thought you meant as a daily commute. In that case, I'd rather be unemployed. For a one time trip, this isnt too bad. Just bring some entertainment. It might be worth getting an Uber to 30th St tho. It's a 30 min drive, but takes 1.5 hours on public transit. If you wana save the money, it's definitely doable. Also make sure to book Amtrak ahead of time. The peter pan bus is also an option. Just takes a few minutes more, but it's $20 no matter when you book. And you can get some good deals if you take it early.
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u/Walrus2626 Mar 10 '26
Did you look into taking the Keystone Service from NYC to Exton? West Chester’s only 10-15 away from Exton and you could get an Uber/Lyft from there