IS TRAIN TRAVEL A WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY

ALTERNATIVE TO FLYING OR DRIVING?

Vanessa O’Connell is an MDA Ambassador in the Orlando area who lives with Pompe disease. 

She travels twice a year on Amtrak’s Floridian from Winter Park, Florida, to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, to visit family and see specialists at Duke University.

Although a nonstop flight from Orlando to Raleigh-Durham would take less than two hours, Vanessa swears by the overnight, 13-hour Amtrak trip.

“I used to drive it before my diagnosis. Since then, I take the train,” Vanessa says.

“I have a breathing disorder, and my physician says the train’s air is much better than the air on a plane. 

The station in Raleigh-Durham has excellent access.

The one in Winter Park is a quaint little whistle stop, but I can make do with the access.”