commute from WVA to DC (Martinsburg, Charles Town: home, transfer, live in)

[lyds4sure]

Thinking about moving to Charles Town West Virginia, but work in DC. How long is the commute and is it a bad drive???

[dyt937]

well its 73 miles away
and guessing it will be a 1 and a half to 2 hour commute

[billscamaros]

as always ... the answer is "it depends". what time in the morning are you willing to leave for work? leaving charles town at 4:30 am ... you'd probably have smooth sailing all the way into DC. traffic would probably flow at around 65 mph, and depending on the route that you choose, you might not even see a stoplight until you get into DC. i get from charles town to herndon in just under an hour at that time in the morning. traffic certainly isn't nonexistent at that time, but it moves well.

there is also the MARC train that runs past harpers ferry and goes to union station. i've never ridden into town, so can't comment on the times associated with commuting this way.

good luck.

[David Kennedy]

Everybody takes the train. $15 Do their work with laptop and bluetooth.
Transfers to the subway get you to your doorstep. It's a community in itself.
The hard part is getting to the Park-and-Ride. Most have Sweet Sugar do a drop off...then a pick-up at 7 pm. Half of DC lives in Berkeley...It's like the L.A./ Long Beach crowd that live in Tijuana and work in So Cal.

[NotoriousSEG]

What about Charles Town to Tysons Corner? I don't need to go all the way in to DC and I already live in WV (different part). 50 miles they tell me--what would that commute be like?

[Railrider]

Prolly still take you at least an 1 to 1 1/2 hours, You may want to consider Harpers Ferry or Martinsburg,WV or Brunswick, Gaithersburg, MD. They have MARC service, Commuter Trains that run to DC every Morning and Evening, Thats what a LOT of people do. Live in the country, Ride the train to work, I think the first MARC train leaves Brunswick, MD @ 4:45 in the morn and run every 15 inutes therafter until 7 or 7:30, they are in the process of adding more parking at Point of Rocks MARC station, Just outside Brunswick ,MD so that may be another option for you.

[NotoriousSEG]

do harpers ferry or martinsburg have trains that run into tysons corner?



eesh---this whole thing is so foreign to me...i live in a place in which I can run home for lunch if i so desire, and a 5000 square foot victrorian can be had for under $300k. oy.

[Railrider]

Marc trains that run from Harpers and Martinsburg will make a station stop at Rockville, MD which is 13 miles from Tysons Corner, Looks like a couple jumps from train to train and a bus ride from there. Check out the links below for more info, Hope this helps.

http://www.wmata.com/tripplanner_d/tripplanner.cfm

Maryland Transit Administration

[snorpus]

L4S,

I, for one, wouldn't give a second thought to switching from a situation where I had 5000sf within a few minutes of work, to having to commute 1~1.5 hrs each way in the suburbs/exurbs of Washington DC. It just wouldn't be conceivable to me.

Snorpus

[FireballFL]

Originally Posted by lyds4sure

Thinking about moving to Charles Town West Virginia, but work in DC. How long is the commute and is it a bad drive???

You may want to consider a monthly train ticket from Martinsburg to Washington. I did this and was able to be in the Capital in about an hour. With rising gas prices and the wear and tear on your car going through the burbs and the city, you will probably be saving a ton of money.