The Auto-Train - Washington D.C. to Orlando with Amtrak

Amtrak (www.amtrak.com) run a train they call the Auto Train from Virginia to Florida. It departs Lorton VA (about 45mins south of Washington D.C.) every day at 16:00 (4pm) and arrives at Sanford FL (about 40 minutes North of Orlando) at 08:30 the next morning. The reverse journey is the same – departs Sanford at 16:00 and arrives Lorton at 08:30. On the face of it it looks like a good way of covering a lot of ground. And that was how it turned out.

They offer seats or sleepers (for an extra charge) and handicapped accessible units are available. However, if you want handicapped accessible they must be booked by telephone (1-800-skip i95) – they cannot be booked on-line.

They request that you turn up about 2 hours before departure, so we did. We showed our tickets to the lady in the booth and she gave us a handicapped sign to hang on the rear-view mirror. We then left the car in the hands of the Amtrak staff and went into the station. In the station you get your boarding pass at the desk. Note that the dining car and lounge car on the train are not wheelchair accessible so you will need to request that you get meal service at your seat or in your cabin. It is also a good idea to request pre-boarding.

There’s not much in the station – a small and very expensive café and accessible toilets. About an hour before departure we were invited to pre-board. Getting on the train was easy, with a smooth and strong ramp provided by the staff.

We had reserved a sleeper. It was a very compact design consisting of a small room (6’9” x 9’5” or 2m x 2.9m) with a WC, a hand-basin and two seats facing each other across a small fold-away table. For sleeping, the two seats converted into a narrow berth (2’4” x 6’6” or 72cm x 2m) while an upper berth (2’0” x 6’2” or 61cm x 1.9m) could be folded down. We made the mistake of bringing four briefcase sized bags on board. There was barely room for them. It is advisable to stick to just one night bag for the journey. With the four bags squashed against one wall I was still unable to turn completely in the room. It is possible to pull a curtain across to separate the toilet from the seating/sleeping area, but nevertheless you need to be good friends with the person you are sharing with – it is a bit intimate!

Each car has an assigned staff member and in our case a very friendly lady called Priscilla looked after our every need. She brought us dinner, turned down the beds, and woke us with breakfast in the morning.

If you want to stay in your chair, there is a simple wheel lock that can lock the chair down. However, I found the rocking motion somewhat nauseating when in my chair and preferred to sit on one of the seats. The bed was comfortable and we slept well. It was pleasant to half-wake up during the night and hear the song of the wheels on the track and know that we were heading South and cutting hours off our driving time!

We reached Sanford about 15 minutes late/ Disembarking was as easy as getting on. The Sanford station has no more to offer than Lorton had, but it has accessible toilets. There is a wait while the Amtrak staff get your car and we did not get on the road until about 10:20.

All in all, the Auto Train was a very satisfactory experience and I would do it again without hesitation. But with just one bag the next time…