Altoona, Pennsylvania — Attraction in Altoona

It's a fine train station. Seating isn't the most comfortable in the waiting area. Trains are generally on-time, but as Altoona is the halfway point between the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg stations, delays can occur, particularly during or following heavy weather, or if there is a freight line running on the commuter tracks. Budget enough time before and after and bring something to do while waiting.

Reaching the boarding platform is a big of a walk over a bridge. Pack light if possible and use the stairs, otherwise use the elevator.

If you need to purchase tickets in-person, plan in advance and go during morning hours.

Parking is tricky. There is a parking garage as part of the complex, but I'm not sure of the pricing. Downtown Altoona parking is metered. However, the station is serviced by Amtrak, Amtran (local buses), cabs, Uber/Lyft, and is relatively easy to reach from any section of Altoona.

All in all, a great convince for traveling to and from the city, but Amtrak's train schedule and services are painfully a mere shadow of the past for this...

I experienced discrimination by a staff here. My luggage was damaged so I asked for the claim form as amtrak policy states that passenger must report damage to luggage within 24 hours of the incident before leaving the station.

'What did you expect to happen? You're travelling on train', 'You people need to understand that baggage gets damaged if you travel by train'. There was three travellers, including myself complaining about damaged baggage: two of which are Asian (Myself and another traveller) and another was white male. The Train station staff stated those things to Asian travellers, while he stated 'I'm sorry this happened to you, though I don't know what these people were expecting' to the white male traveller.He continuously refused to write us a claim form until I specifically stated the policy in which travellers must report damage within 24 hours before leaving the station. The lack of cooperation, as well as the discriminatory behaviour, and respect, is unacceptable. The conduct of the staff ruined my trip experience....

On aug 10 we boarded amtrak at altoona for a trip to atlantic city, nj. It was basically a good trip down but found that thetrain ran very slowly on the way to our layover in phila. We found it very disturbing. On our return trip we had a major delay due to a storm warning. We were 1-1/2 hr. Late on our arrival back to altoona. Is it law that a train must stop for weather related issues? If so the train personnel should have announced it immediately. This was a very disappointing...