The Traveling Wheelchair

50 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington, District of Columbia 20002
Phone:  202-906-3012
Union Station: http://www.unionstationdc.com/transportation.aspx
Amtrak: http://www.amtrak.com/

After an eventful and exciting trip to Washington DC it was time to travel back home. I love Washington DC and think it is the most wheelchair accessible and wheelchair friendly city in the United States! Hopefully, I will one day return.

A wheelchair accessible Red Top Cab picked my friends and me up at the Crystal Gate Marriott in Arlington VA and took us to Union Station in Washington DC which is fully wheelchair accessible.

We arrived at Union Station forty-five minutes before our 1:00pm Acela Express was scheduled to depart from Washington DC to Providence, RI; we thought this would give us plenty of time. When we arrived we found a very crowded and very busy Union Station for MANY others were heading back to their homes on this day; immediately following the Inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Entering Union Station is easy in a wheelchair for the automatic doors slide right open as soon as you approach. On this day though, a construction worker was on a ladder blocking access to the automatic door ; he was taking down decorations that had been put up for President Obama’s recent appearance at Union Station. He kindly moved the ladder aside as I wheeled in through these automatic doors. All other customers were asked to use the next door which is not automatic.

Once inside this spacious train station, I found it difficult to maneuver around the enormous crowd. We went to the customer service desk to ask for a baggage attendant to help us with our luggage and my roll-in shower chair. No attendants were free at the moment for they were all busy helping other customers. We looked around for a baggage cart that we would load ourselves but could not find any. All employees looked very busy and stressed due to the crowd.

I did check out the restrooms in Union Station and they have easy access and are fully wheelchair accessible and ADA compliant.

Finally we were able to locate a baggage attendant who helped us load our luggage onto a cart and get to the platform where we were to board the Acela. The attendant then placed the wheelchair access ramp from the platform to the train so I could wheel aboard. We found the Acela train to be very crowded and the wheelchair seating section was full of other passenger’s luggage. An Acela employee announced to all passengers to please come and remove their luggage from the wheelchair seating section.

It took a little more time and most passengers removed their luggage from the space where my wheelchair is to fit. Ric and I were seated in one compartment which was the quiet compartment and Tony and Kate were seated in another compartment because of lack of finding seating together. I guess we should have arrived earleir to give ourselves more time to board our train on this very busy day.

We were finally on our way back home . When our train stopped in NYC, many passengers departed and there was room for Tony and Kate to join Ric and me in the quiet compartment. We’re not a very quiet group but we tried our hardest to remain as quiet as we could. A new conductor and crew came on board and seemed much more relaxed and friendly. Our conductor was very kind and even let me wear his hat :)

I give Amtrak-DC Union Station FIVE STARS for wheelchair accessibility. Customer service wasn’t as good as it usually is but I fully understand: the station was exceptionally crowded; many Americans were heading back home: this was the day after the 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama which I was very proud to personally witness.

Congratulations President Barack Obama and Thank You  Congressman Barney Frank !!!