Amtrak is adding seats on its Northeast Regional trains from Nov. 20 through Nov. 30, with extra Washington to New York departures on four of those dates. A second daily train in each direction between New York and Pittsburgh starts Nov. 18. For Thanksgiving travelers comparing the train with a flight, the booking questions are which dates get extra service and how much a rail ticket costs to cancel if plans change.
Extra Northeast Regional trains run on four dates
The Amtrak holiday schedule announcement says select Northeast Regional trains will have extra cars from Friday, Nov. 20, through Monday, Nov. 30. Two additional round trips between Washington Union Station and New York Penn Station are scheduled for Nov. 24, 25, 28 and 29. Those are the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Saturday and Sunday after it. Thanksgiving itself, Nov. 26, is outside that four-day extra-train schedule.
The extra round trips serve intermediate cities between Washington and New York. They do not add departures from stops north of New York, such as New London and Mystic, as local reporting in Connecticut noted. Search your exact stations and dates in Amtrak’s timetable tool. An extra train can give you another departure time, while an extra car adds seats to a train already scheduled. The announcement gives no inventory or price for an individual departure. In New York, Amtrak says Moynihan Train Hall usually posts boarding gates about 15 minutes before departure. At Washington Union Station, boarding gates close three minutes before departure. Amtrak recorded more than 1.2 million trips during the 2025 Thanksgiving period, nearly 6% more than the year before, across its network.
The changes were announced before Friday’s nationwide ground stop. If you need to replace a disrupted flight this weekend, check the current train schedule and see what your airline’s rebooking waiver covers before committing to a separate rail ticket.
The Pennsylvanian starts a second daily round trip Nov. 18
Amtrak and PennDOT confirmed that service on the 444-mile Pennsylvanian route doubles on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The train runs between Pittsburgh Union Station and New York Penn Station via Harrisburg and Philadelphia. These departures and arrivals are in Eastern time, based on the November schedule data. Check Amtrak for your exact travel date.
| Direction | Train | Departs | Arrives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh to New York | 42 | 7:10 a.m. | 4:43 p.m. |
| Pittsburgh to New York | 44 | 1:00 p.m. | 10:25 p.m. |
| New York to Pittsburgh | 43 | 5:50 a.m. | 3:14 p.m. |
| New York to Pittsburgh | 45 | 12:25 p.m. | 9:54 p.m. |
Starting Nov. 18, Amtrak says only trains 42 and 45 offer checked baggage and trainside bicycle service. That puts the morning eastbound and midday westbound trains on the list. If you’re bringing a bike or need to check luggage, the train number matters even when two departures serve the same stations. Check whether the service is available at both stations on your itinerary. Amtrak says checked-bag deadlines vary by station. If you can carry everything aboard, its carry-on policy allows two bags up to 50 pounds and 28 by 22 by 14 inches each on these trains. You have to be able to lift the bags onto the overhead shelf.
What you get back if you cancel
For reserved tickets bought directly with cash, a credit card or a debit card, Amtrak’s refund policy allows a full refund when you cancel within 24 hours of purchase and before the train departs. After that window, the fare you chose determines what you can recover.
For a $100 coach ticket canceled before departure, the standard rules would return $100 on a Flex fare, $70 on a Value fare or $50 on a Sale fare. The $100 is an example for comparing the rules, and prices vary by train and date. Value and Sale fares also bar changes. Flex lets you switch without a change fee, though a higher fare for the new train can still cost more. If you book rail as a fallback, set a reminder before the train leaves. Missing the departure can cost the full value of that segment.
