Coach seats blocked from sales on #06

[IHC]

If you try to book a trip on #06 from Emeryville to either Reno or Winnemucca between now and March 04th, it comes back and says "(Coach) Seats sold out - Select other option" (such as a sleeper, which are still available for purchase).

But, if you book between Emeryville and Elko, or stations beyond Elko, coach seats are suddenly available on all of these trains.

When did they start blocking coach ticket sales from the Bay Area to Reno/Winnemucca on #06? It seems they are only selling a certain number of seats on the train between Emeryville and Reno/Winnemucca, reserving the rest of the seats for folks to purchase for longer distances...

But, I find it hard to believe they've already reached their quota limit of Bay Area to Reno/Winnemucca coach seat sales on each and every train every day from now until March 04th...

It's as if Amtrak is purposely limiting themselves. <_<

 

[Green Maned Lion]

It's as if Amtrak is purposely limiting themselves. <_<

It might do so if it thinks that there are sufficient other transportation options to those places AND sales of those tickets result in less profitable sales than if they didn't sell them (in other words, losing more profitable, longer distance passengers)

 

[rtabern]

They also started doing this on the EAST leg of the Zephyr too here in the Midwest about 2 years ago... I've heard a number of different stories and reasons for it... but if you try and buy a ticket from Galesburg to Chicago on #6, or Princeton to Chicago on #6... you can't do it anymore. What is funny is that Galesburg and Priceton ARE NOT "D" (Drop-off only stations) however good luck in buying a ticket from them to Chicago. What is even weirder is that you can buy a ticket on #4 from Galesburg to Chicago or Princeton to Chicago which shoots down the idea they want people to take the state-run trains from within points in Illinois.

 

[Shanghai]

I would think that Amtrak is trying to provide priority to the more long distance riders in these areas. Someone could book a short distance seat

that would reduce the number of seats available to long distance customers. In the Northeast, the Cardinal travels between New York and Washington,

but you cannot buy a ticket from NYP to WAS on that train. It does stop in NWK, TRE, PHL, WIL, BAL, but to Receive passengers only. Same logic

in the return direction where the train stops to Discharge only.

 

[EB_OBS]

Well, if there is something going on in Reno during this time, where transportation demand is extremely high, it's possible with groups to sell-out the train to Reno. Then departing Reno you're left with an empty train. Anyone wanting to go thru Reno wasn't able to buy a ticket because every seat was sold to passengers bound only to Reno. Amtrak was having a similar problem with the new Levenworth, WA stop. Passengers boarding in Seattle, Edmonds and Everett were filling up the coach seats. Anyone wanting to travel further east, departing from Seattle, Edmonds or Everett couldn't buy a ticket on that train. Amtrak had to set a cap for LVA.

 

[railiner]

They also started doing this on the EAST leg of the Zephyr too here in the Midwest about 2 years ago... I've heard a number of different stories and reasons for it... but if you try and buy a ticket from Galesburg to Chicago on #6, or Princeton to Chicago on #6... you can't do it anymore. What is funny is that Galesburg and Priceton ARE NOT "D" (Drop-off only stations) however good luck in buying a ticket from them to Chicago. What is even weirder is that you can buy a ticket on #4 from Galesburg to Chicago or Princeton to Chicago which shoots down the idea they want people to take the state-run trains from within points in Illinois.

Perhaps the Chief has a lot more space at that point?

 

[railiner]

I would think that Amtrak is trying to provide priority to the more long distance riders in these areas. Someone could book a short distance seatthat would reduce the number of seats available to long distance customers. In the Northeast, the Cardinal travels between New York and Washington,

but you cannot buy a ticket from NYP to WAS on that train. It does stop in NWK, TRE, PHL, WIL, BAL, but to Receive passengers only. Same logic

in the return direction where the train stops to Discharge only.

Anyone wanting to travel from those stations to WAS on the Cardinal (or the other long-haul trains) can simply book to ALX and get off in WAS. I believe the fare is the same (at least from NYP).

I used to do this many times when I wanted to enjoy a meal in the diner, and enjoy the roomier seating en route.

 

[Jeremy]

Well, if there is something going on in Reno during this time, where transportation demand is extremely high, it's possible with groups to sell-out the train to Reno. Then departing Reno you're left with an empty train. Anyone wanting to go thru Reno wasn't able to buy a ticket because every seat was sold to passengers bound only to Reno. . .

It's possible that San Francisco Bay Area folks were finding Amtrak a good alternative form of transportation for their Reno gambling trips. Driving up I-80 can be a hassle, especially in winter, and flying takes almost as long as Amtrak, what with driving or shuttling to SFO or OAK hours early for the strip search, etc. Here in Santa Rosa, I can pick up a Thruway Bus only a couple of miles away and catch CZ in Martinez.

Edit: You can take the Capitol Corridor from the Bay Area to Sacramento and a Thruway bus from there to Reno for the same fare ($56/person) but in that case Greyhound would probably be a better deal.

I checked July 2010 and coach seats are available so maybe it's a winter thing or maybe Amtrak will allow a few coach seats to be sold to Reno.

 

[The Metropolitan]

The difference to me between the CZ and say the Cardinal, is that pax in the NE can readily book a host of other trains instead of the Cardinal to get down the line. No such beasts exist between the West Coast and Reno.

If Reno demand from the west is so high that they have to deliberately turn folks away, it would seem that a day train to Reno should be considered. Of course, with the state funding mechanisms in place for most new trains, I don't see this happening any time soon. California won't pay to send people and their money to Nevada, and the gambling industry isn't in the best of shape now to foot the bill.

 

[Shanghai]

This is true that on the Northeast Corrider, there are a number of alternatives to the long distance trains.

On a recent Cardinal trip, there were only three of us in the sleeper from NYP to WAS. In WAS, the sleeper was filled.

 

[railiner]

The difference to me between the CZ and say the Cardinal, is that pax in the NE can readily book a host of other trains instead of the Cardinal to get down the line. No such beasts exist between the West Coast and Reno.
If Reno demand from the west is so high that they have to deliberately turn folks away, it would seem that a day train to Reno should be considered. Of course, with the state funding mechanisms in place for most new trains, I don't see this happening any time soon. California won't pay to send people and their money to Nevada, and the gambling industry isn't in the best of shape now to foot the bill.

Isn't there a train from Oakland that goes as far as Colfax? With a Thruway bus connect to Reno? It wouldn't be that far to extend it to Reno. And it would serve Truckee and Lake Tahoe, both in Ca.

California not wanting to run the few miles from the State Line to Reno would be very short sighted. Imagine if NJT refused to go into NYC and Phila. for that reason. Of course, in those cases New Jersey residents are mostly taking money outof the adjoining states.

 

[RailFanLNK]

Could it be the availability of coach seats? The last couple of times I rode the CZ (two weeks ago) there were only two coach cars instead of three. They told me they usually go down to two coach cars after Christmas.

 

[wayman]

The difference to me between the CZ and say the Cardinal, is that pax in the NE can readily book a host of other trains instead of the Cardinal to get down the line. No such beasts exist between the West Coast and Reno.
If Reno demand from the west is so high that they have to deliberately turn folks away, it would seem that a day train to Reno should be considered. Of course, with the state funding mechanisms in place for most new trains, I don't see this happening any time soon. California won't pay to send people and their money to Nevada, and the gambling industry isn't in the best of shape now to foot the bill.

Isn't there a train from Oakland that goes as far as Colfax? With a Thruway bus connect to Reno? It wouldn't be that far to extend it to Reno. And it would serve Truckee and Lake Tahoe, both in Ca.

California not wanting to run the few miles from the State Line to Reno would be very short sighted. Imagine if NJT refused to go into NYC and Phila. for that reason. Of course, in those cases New Jersey residents are mostly taking money outof the adjoining states.

California is unlikely to fund the extension of the train from Colfax to Reno because of the extremely strong Native American casino lobby in California who do everything they can to make it difficult for Californians to get to Nevada. Spending California money on transportation to Nevada is politically impossible; it's part of why I-15 hasn't had obviously needed capacity increases and part of why the funding never seems to materialize for the LA-Las Vegas corridor rail.

 

[bretton88]

Actually, the capitol corridor will probably extend a single round trip to Reno in the near future. The studies (which will allow for this to happen once funding is secured) have only just been completed. There is some discussion over who pays operating costs for it, but the CCJPA (who oversees the capitol corridor) really wants this to happen.

 

[railiner]

Perhaps it would be in Nevada's interest to kick in some of the funding? Or the casino trade association?

 

[tp49]

The difference to me between the CZ and say the Cardinal, is that pax in the NE can readily book a host of other trains instead of the Cardinal to get down the line. No such beasts exist between the West Coast and Reno.
If Reno demand from the west is so high that they have to deliberately turn folks away, it would seem that a day train to Reno should be considered. Of course, with the state funding mechanisms in place for most new trains, I don't see this happening any time soon. California won't pay to send people and their money to Nevada, and the gambling industry isn't in the best of shape now to foot the bill.

Isn't there a train from Oakland that goes as far as Colfax? With a Thruway bus connect to Reno? It wouldn't be that far to extend it to Reno. And it would serve Truckee and Lake Tahoe, both in Ca.

California not wanting to run the few miles from the State Line to Reno would be very short sighted. Imagine if NJT refused to go into NYC and Phila. for that reason. Of course, in those cases New Jersey residents are mostly taking money outof the adjoining states.

California is unlikely to fund the extension of the train from Colfax to Reno because of the extremely strong Native American casino lobby in California who do everything they can to make it difficult for Californians to get to Nevada. Spending California money on transportation to Nevada is politically impossible; it's part of why I-15 hasn't had obviously needed capacity increases and part of why the funding never seems to materialize for the LA-Las Vegas corridor rail.

California doesn't want to spend the money because there is no money to spend. Also, it is not politically impossible. It is unlikely given the current situation but not impossible. If Nevada were to pony up some of the funding this would be a done deal however, Nevada's hurting for money just as much as California is Indian gaming lobby aside.