Additional Surfliner Run Effective 10/14/19

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hmy1

Service Attendant
Joined
Aug 9, 2010
Messages
133
A new Surfliner schedule will take effect on 10/14/19. There were minor timing changes to some trains, but a new round-trip 578/591 was added. (Instead of numbering the new north-bound run as 589, they numbered it 591 and renumbered the existing 591 as 593.) It's nice that they tried to fill a gap in the late afternoon schedule, but I wonder how these trains will interact with the notoriously late 774/785.

578 is scheduled to depart just 45 minutes after 774. If 774 is late enough (which is not uncommon), you'll get two southbound trains running minutes apart. Of course, if 774 is really late (which unfortunately is also not uncommon), they could just send the 578 equipment out as 774 south of LA like they currently do.

I'll be watching this carefully. At the very least, I hope it helps the overcrowding issue with 785 by some passengers choosing to shift over to the new 591.

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/plan-your-trip/schedules/schedule-change/
 
Thats a big improvement for people taking the train for work or business. As someone who used to take the train down and back to SD weekly, not having a train between 785 and 591 was extremely annoying. 785 was too early and 591 was too late and both trains were always extremely crowded. It's also nice to see LOSSAN actually made the new train most convenient for people living and working between LA and SD. I just hope that the train that will operate 591 isn't a 700 series coming down from north of LA. It's those 700 series that usually gets into trouble running late and stuff.
 
This is in line with what I heard a few months ago. From what I understand, as equipment and so on permit there should be a new train added to the schedule each year for the next few years between LA and SD (something that I think is mostly constrained by the equipment situation).
 
Well, it's on the Surfliner's dedicated website. Amtrak does not seem to have the new timetables up on the website (though they have it loaded into the system...this seems to be Amtrak's continuing attitude that being able to check a timetable simply isn't much of a convenience).
 
Amtrak has a habit to not publish schedule changes on their website in time for the change. The Valley Flyer service was added to the NEC 2 schedules a month after it was inaugurated. The Sept 23 schedules for NEC 1 and 3 were uploaded just this weekend, almost 2 weeks after the effective date. I wouldn't expect the new Surf schedules there anytime soon.
 
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