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Rail travel between SF and LA



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 18th, 2005, 05:20 PM
Stephen Clark
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Default Rail travel between SF and LA

I have an old Amtrak timetable, fall winter 2004/05, which does not show a
direct rail service between these two cities (a coach connection is
required). I was told that there once was a direct service but due to a
landslide that happened many years ago the track is no longer there. Is this
so? Is there a "timetable" to have the track replaced?
Thanks.




  #2  
Old July 18th, 2005, 07:17 PM
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Stephen Clark wrote:
I have an old Amtrak timetable, fall winter 2004/05, which does not show a
direct rail service between these two cities (a coach connection is
required). I was told that there once was a direct service but due to a
landslide that happened many years ago the track is no longer there. Is this
so? Is there a "timetable" to have the track replaced?
Thanks.





As far as I know, the Amtrak station from which you get to San Francisco
has always been in Oakland, near Jack London Square. Amtrak coaches
take you into the city from there.

  #3  
Old July 18th, 2005, 07:33 PM
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The northbound Coast Starlight is scheduled to arrive in San Jose at
about 8:30pm. On weekdays, the next Caltrains to SF leave at about
9:06pm and 10:25pm. On Saturday, the next and last train leaves at
10:30pm. On Sunday, it leaves at 9:00pm. The Caltrain depot in SF is
in the middle of nowhere and a long way from Union Square. You
probably would not want to be there late at night.

The time I took it to Seattle, it arrived in San Jose at about
midnight, and Emeryville after 1am. At that time of the night, it
might be a little difficult to get a Caltrain from San Jose or BART
from the East Bay to get to San Francisco.

  #4  
Old July 18th, 2005, 08:20 PM
Hatunen
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On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 17:20:44 +0100, "Stephen Clark"
wrote:

I have an old Amtrak timetable, fall winter 2004/05, which does not show a
direct rail service between these two cities (a coach connection is
required). I was told that there once was a direct service but due to a
landslide that happened many years ago the track is no longer there. Is this
so? Is there a "timetable" to have the track replaced?
Thanks.


I don't see how a landslide could have caused a problem between
SF and LA. You can take the commuter CalTrain from San Francisco
to San Jose and catch the through train to LA.

Back in the olden days trains came directly up the Peninsula from
LA to downtown SF, but now ther's just the Coast Starlight from
LA to and from Seattle, and a Peninsula diversion would be
impractical. There were once train ferries to bring trains across
the Bay into SF as well.

The official SF train station is in Emeryville directly across
the Bay at the other end of the Bay Bridge, so AMTRAK runs a
shuttle bus back and forth, subject to all the traffic woes of
the Bay Bridge. It might be a bit simpler and more reliable if
the Coast Starlight stopped at Richmond, the way the Capitols do,
the Richmond station being shared with BART, but it doesn't.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
  #6  
Old July 19th, 2005, 12:30 PM
Icono Clast
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Stephen Clark wrote:
I was told that there once was a direct service


Southern Pacific had the Daylight and the Lark each making a daily
trip. It was a nice trip but I think it took twelve hours. I
travelled on each.

but due to a landslide that happened many years ago the track is
no longer there. Is this so?


I don't know. I do know the service is no longer available.


Azzure said:
As far as I know, the Amtrak station from which you get to San
Francisco has always been in Oakland, near Jack London Square.


Used t'be. The building is still there but its use is different.

Amtrak coaches take you into the city from there.


Used to. I think not now.
__________________________________________________ _________________
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  #7  
Old July 19th, 2005, 02:23 PM
Keith W
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"Icono Clast" wrote in message
news:1121772913.4d856b113cdef653997f0c26724b2c15@t eranews...
Stephen Clark wrote:
I was told that there once was a direct service


Southern Pacific had the Daylight and the Lark each making a daily
trip. It was a nice trip but I think it took twelve hours. I
travelled on each.

but due to a landslide that happened many years ago the track is no
longer there. Is this so?


I don't know. I do know the service is no longer available.


Azzure said:
As far as I know, the Amtrak station from which you get to San Francisco
has always been in Oakland, near Jack London Square.


Used t'be. The building is still there but its use is different.

Amtrak coaches take you into the city from there.


Used to. I think not now.


Correct the train now runs from Emeryville just north
of the Bay Bridge on the Oakland side

Keith



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  #8  
Old July 19th, 2005, 04:02 PM
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Icono Clast wrote:

Azzure said:

As far as I know, the Amtrak station from which you get to San
Francisco has always been in Oakland, near Jack London Square.



Used t'be. The building is still there but its use is different.


Hmm. I did not know that. So now I gather you have to access SF via
Emeryville? (Purely a rhetorical question as I have no plans to travel
on Amtrak again EVER.)

  #9  
Old July 19th, 2005, 05:00 PM
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How the northbound train could be 3.5
hours late after leaving LA at 10:15 am is beyond me.


The other passengers said they left LA more than an hour late.

It took us about six hours to get from San Jose to Sacramento.

We lost time between every pair of stations. A couple of times, we
were in danger of making up a few minutes between two stations. Each
time, they avoided that by stopping the train in the middle of nowhere
and sitting on the track for a couple of hours.

  #10  
Old July 19th, 2005, 05:25 PM
Keith W
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wrote in message
oups.com...
How the northbound train could be 3.5
hours late after leaving LA at 10:15 am is beyond me.


The other passengers said they left LA more than an hour late.

It took us about six hours to get from San Jose to Sacramento.

We lost time between every pair of stations. A couple of times, we
were in danger of making up a few minutes between two stations. Each
time, they avoided that by stopping the train in the middle of nowhere
and sitting on the track for a couple of hours.


The problem is that with the exception of the North East corridor
they have to share lines owned by the freight railroads and are
subject to delays and limits imposed by those dispatchers.

Keith



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