I only take the Acela, it is almost never delayed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take the Acela pretty frequently to and from NYC and rarely have delays, but maybe Amtrak prioritizes keeping the Acela on time?

Yes, they do.

This!

If you're will to pay double, the Acela usually has much fewer delays.

Picked up my son in Manassas last night coming from Charlottesville and the train was about 20 minutes late. Last time when he came home for winter break, it was over an hour late because it was stopped on the track outside of Alexandria (not sure why). It's not ideal, but it's more convenient than picking him up during the week.

Yes, it’s definitely worse going south. Used to take the train to Williamsburg all the time, and it was always late. Usually under a hour, sometimes several hours, and once over 7 hours late! As someone else mentioned, I think it’s because freight gets priority, so the passenger trains have to stop and wait every time freight comes through. Going north it is better. I’ve taken the train to New York several times, and while it often runs late, the delays are generally under an hour.