Amtrak California Thruway Motorcoach Report

There's been a few questions about the Amtrak Thruway Motorcoaches... so I thought I'd take some pictures to share.

These are the buses used on the San Joaquin route to connect passengers to the Pacific Surfliner. They are brand new Van Hool buses. The have 57 cloth seats which are quite comfortable. Most of the seats recline (not sure about the back row), they have headrests, small tray tables, seatbelts, and tiny armrests on the aisle and between seats. Each seat pair also has two outlets between the seats and the bus has WiFi. Towards the rear of the bus there are 2 sets of "club" seating in the rear, each with four seats surrounding a table. Also in the rear of the bus is the restroom... it's a blue chemical toilet that flushes, but there's no sink, just wet towelettes. Overhead there are small luggage racks big enough for purses and backpacks (large suitcases and bikes are put below the bus).



But a word of warning... Amtrak California's contractor is in the process of buying new coaches. Some are MUCH older and lack a lot of the creature comforts (including outlets, tray tables, seatbelts and WiFi.) But all buses do have a bathroom.

Great information and great pictures! Thanks for your efforts. I know I really appreciate seeing the details and being prepared!

One thing I HATE about motorcoach restrooms.......you've got seats literally right next to the restroom door. How embarrasing if you have to use the restroom, you can be assured people sitting in those seats will be able to "hear" your business in the restroom. I wish they'd remove those seats, I sure hate using the restroom knowing there are people literally inches away from the door.

I was pleasantly surprised with my recent bus experience. The bus I was on wasn't as nice as the one pictured but was nicer then I was expecting. I took the San Joquin from Sacramento and then the thruway to LA... This was my first experience with the Amtrak Thruway and I have to say it worked pretty seamless.

bobnjulie said:

Great information and great pictures! Thanks for your efforts. I know I really appreciate seeing the details and being prepared!

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Thanks!

rms492 said:

One thing I HATE about motorcoach restrooms.......you've got seats literally right next to the restroom door. How embarrasing if you have to use the restroom, you can be assured people sitting in those seats will be able to "hear" your business in the restroom. I wish they'd remove those seats, I sure hate using the restroom knowing there are people literally inches away from the door.

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Agreed. On this bus the seat right in front of the restroom was so close... that if the seat was reclined the door would hit the back of the headrest. Needless to say... nobody sat there.

On some of the motorcoaches that area is also used for a "wheelchair securement location." When that's the case I've seen that they usually keep one or two rows of seats stowed (unless it's a sold out bus.) Not sure why the seats weren't stowed in this case... the bus was only about 3/4 full.

TVRM610 said:

I was pleasantly surprised with my recent bus experience. The bus I was on wasn't as nice as the one pictured but was nicer then I was expecting. I took the San Joquin from Sacramento and then the thruway to LA... This was my first experience with the Amtrak Thruway and I have to say it worked pretty seamless.

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I'm not the biggest fan of multi-hour bus rides... but Amtrak California has got it down to a science.

I've taken the bus about a dozen times from the San Joaquin down to the SoCal area but this was my first time connecting from the San Joaquin to the Pacific Surfliner.

It's tightly scheduled with very little "waiting time" during the connections. At first that made me a bit nervous but I was very impressed at the operation. Amtrak had station agents waiting at the bus bays at Union Station to direct us to the platform where the train was already boarding (no cattle call). At the same time baggage handlers swarmed the bus pulling out the "carry-on" bags and lining them up on the curb side of the bus while at the same time the "checked" baggage was removed from the other side and put onto carts.

I receive a notice that I don't have permission to view when I click to look at the photos ("[#10171]").