HARRISBURG, Pa. — Thousands are set to travel by train in Pennsylvania throughout Thanksgiving week, which is one of the busiest weeks of the year on the railways.
More than one million people traveled on Amtrak trains nationwide during Thanksgiving week in 2023.
Amtrak says it is at 97% of the ridership it was before the pandemic and that ridership in Harrisburg was up 16% last year from the year prior.
Amtrak says it recommends passengers arrive at stations earlier than normal to contend with the crowds.
"Make sure that they have enough time to get to the station, if they're driving, plenty of time to park," said Beth Toll, the senior public relations manager at Amtrak. "We recommend about 30 to 45 minutes prior to the scheduled departure."
With wet weather on the horizon in south-central Pennsylvania on Thursday, Toll says she does not expect it to disrupt train travel.
"We're monitoring it and certainly our trains run through rain, sleet, snow, shine, you name it," Toll said. "So we're not anticipating any issues, but would encourage folks to arrive to the station a little bit early, give them plenty of time."
Amtrak is increasing capacity during the holiday week by adding extra cars to Northeast Regional and Midwest trains between Nov. 25 and Dec. 2.