Coast Starlight Cancelled Through End of March

[rtabern]

The Coast Starlight has been cancelled through the end of March now (except for the stub train from LAX-SAC).

You can't make reservations for it anymore.

I used 20,000 AGR points for a ticket from CHI-LAX via PDX on 27 and 11... but it's not going to happen... I rebooked on 421.

Atleast I still get 3 nights on the train.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Bad break. But hey, cool picture in TRAINS!

 

[mercedeslove]

The Coast Starlight has been cancelled through the end of March now (except for the stub train from LAX-SAC).
You can't make reservations for it anymore.

I used 20,000 AGR points for a ticket from CHI-LAX via PDX on 27 and 11... but it's not going to happen... I rebooked on 421.

Atleast I still get 3 nights on the train.

Yeah I had a trip from CHI-LAX via PDX as well on March 8th. I had to rebook that too.

 

[Falco]

Wow, that makes me really happy that I got on the CS when I did...

On the 23rd of Jan.

"Ladies and Gentlemen this is the last Northbound service"

Other than that, it was a beautiful ride.

I do has video, if I can find it =/

 

[yarrow]

i think this has been answered in the past: does amtrak have any responsibility to provide transportation on an established route? the end of march, if service is resumed then, will be near two and a half months that service hasn't been provided. i don't believe they have any intention of abandoning the route but when they could offer a bus bridge from klamath falls to eugene it sure looks like they are abandoning the route temporarily. what a way to run a railroad.

 

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

i think this has been answered in the past: does amtrak have any responsibility to provide transportation on an established route? the end of march, if service is resumed then, will be near two and a half months that service hasn't been provided. i don't believe they have any intention of abandoning the route but when they could offer a bus bridge from klamath falls to eugene it sure looks like they are abandoning the route temporarily. what a way to run a railroad.

In most cases it is temporarily suspended if there is no other rail route available. However, over the last few years Amtrak tends to use this suspension method in a little more liberal sense. And at times I think it is used entirely toooo long as with the example with our lovely "Sunset Limited" situation! However, back to the subject, it costs a lot of money to hire pilots (freight road crews) to operate over foreign roads if the Amtrak crew is not qualified on it. And running busses long term in a bus bridge starts to cost more than it is worth in revenue than it is to suspend a portion of a route as they have in this sense. The sleeper revenue is what pays a lot of the bills in the long distance component (though I wonder if managment realizes that sometimes). And being there is no sleeper component on this train right now due to all this, it really only makes sense to cover the areas to the South where the population warrants the stub train! At least we have that running!!!However, Amtrak has a responsibilty to contact those who have reservations during the affected time as well as the passenger should confirm their arrangements as current, too. It should be noted that we're dealing with Amtrak here, and they do make some good decisions at times. Unfortunately, it appeared to me that tried to get away with suspending the entire "Starlite" route at first, though maybe they were exploring their options. I am not in a position to make a judgment call on that.

Ahh... the comment "what a way to run a railroad!" Come out here and work on the railroad! You'll then say/ask "that" just about everyday!!!!

OBS gone freight....

 

[darien-l]

What I'm curious about is whether Amtrak will use this downtime wisely and get the Pacific Parlor cars and sleepers refurbished. Does anyone know where the CS PPCs and sleepers are right now? Are they being sent to Beech Grove? Is there any chance that the "new and improved" Coast Starlight will launch as soon as the mudslide is cleared and full service is restored? (I'm ticketed for CS LAX-EMY at the end of April in a sleeper, so that would be a dream scenario for me)

 

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

What I'm curious about is whether Amtrak will use this downtime wisely and get the Pacific Parlor cars and sleepers refurbished. Does anyone know where the CS PPCs and sleepers are right now? Are they being sent to Beech Grove? Is there any chance that the "new and improved" Coast Starlight will launch as soon as the mudslide is cleared and full service is restored? (I'm ticketed for CS LAX-EMY at the end of April in a sleeper, so that would be a dream scenario for me)

Hopefully they will, but don't count on it! But the plans are there to roll out the "new and improved Starlate!" I am not exactly sure of the dates, though I think it was for say summer? I'll let the others take on your other questions as to where all the equipment is. I switch boxcars, now. :lol:

OBS gone freight....

 

[AlanB]

What I'm curious about is whether Amtrak will use this downtime wisely and get the Pacific Parlor cars and sleepers refurbished. Does anyone know where the CS PPCs and sleepers are right now? Are they being sent to Beech Grove? Is there any chance that the "new and improved" Coast Starlight will launch as soon as the mudslide is cleared and full service is restored? (I'm ticketed for CS LAX-EMY at the end of April in a sleeper, so that would be a dream scenario for me)

Well I haven't seen anything recent, but as of about two weeks ago Amtrak was being critcized for not having sent the PPC's to BG for their proposed overhauls. However that may have changed since the last report. One also needs to consider however that BG isn't just sitting around waiting for work. They have plenty of other projects currently running, some of which they may not be able to postpone or even get out of the way if all 5 PPC's were sent over right now.

As for the sleepers, I'd expect that they are just sitting in LA and Seattle, since as of last year the program to refurbish the Superliner I sleepers was cancelled with 17 not having made it through the program.

 

[darien-l]

As for the sleepers, I'd expect that they are just sitting in LA and Seattle, since as of last year the program to refurbish the Superliner I sleepers was cancelled with 17 not having made it through the program.

I remember reading somewhere that the "new and improved" Coast Starlight would run with refurbished Superliner I sleepers, a la Empire Builder. I guess I assumed that more Superliner Is would be refurbished at BG specifically for CS. If not, where would they come from? Pulled off other lines?

 

[AlanB]

As for the sleepers, I'd expect that they are just sitting in LA and Seattle, since as of last year the program to refurbish the Superliner I sleepers was cancelled with 17 not having made it through the program.

I remember reading somewhere that the "new and improved" Coast Starlight would run with refurbished Superliner I sleepers, a la Empire Builder. I guess I assumed that more Superliner Is would be refurbished at BG specifically for CS. If not, where would they come from? Pulled off other lines?

Well 41 Superliner I sleepers did make it through the refurbishment program before it was cancelled, which is far more than the EB needs to cover its runs.

I suppose that it is also possible that Amtrak has budgeted money this year to pick up where they left off, but since there have been no monthly statements posted so far for this year, I can't tell. By the way, that's not a criticism regarding the lack of posting, just a statement. Amtrak did just post the final financial statement for the year ending Sept 2007, and I'm sure that their efforts over the past few months have been directed at completing that statement.

 

[tcatto]

I made a reservation for the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Oakland on March 11. Now I have to find an alternative for traveling to Oakland. Except for the Greyhound bus, is there any other way to get to San Francisco?

I was thinking to book the trip from Oakland to LA on the Coast Starlight. Has anyone experienced any delay recently?

Thanks!

 

[PRR 60]

I made a reservation for the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Oakland on March 11. Now I have to find an alternative for traveling to Oakland. Except for the Greyhound bus, is there any other way to get to San Francisco?

How about Southwest Airlines at $84 each way?

 

[sechs]

I made a reservation for the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Oakland on March 11. Now I have to find an alternative for traveling to Oakland. Except for the Greyhound bus, is there any other way to get to San Francisco?

How about Southwest Airlines at $84 each way?

Honestly, Alaska or the American Airlines code-share of said same would be a better choice than cattle-call air.

 

[PRR 60]

I made a reservation for the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Oakland on March 11. Now I have to find an alternative for traveling to Oakland. Except for the Greyhound bus, is there any other way to get to San Francisco?

How about Southwest Airlines at $84 each way?

Honestly, Alaska or the American Airlines code-share of said same would be a better choice than cattle-call air.

Although I like WN as long as I get a high A number by checking in a nanosecond after the 24 hour window opens, I agree with you. Any carrier that fare matches with WN would do just fine, and would be head and shoulders better than the "Hound.

 

[yarrow]

i wonder if the customers and taxpayers alienated by the decisions by amtrak regarding their indefinite abandonment of service between the northwest and califonia will be a large enough number to show up in ridership statistics. it seems to me that it must be a large number of people. am i alone in thinking this is the most shortsighted thing they have done in recent memory(recent memory for amtrak being the past few months)?

 

[tcatto]

I made a reservation for the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Oakland on March 11. Now I have to find an alternative for traveling to Oakland. Except for the Greyhound bus, is there any other way to get to San Francisco?

How about Southwest Airlines at $84 each way?

Honestly, Alaska or the American Airlines code-share of said same would be a better choice than cattle-call air.

Although I like WN as long as I get a high A number by checking in a nanosecond after the 24 hour window opens, I agree with you. Any carrier that fare matches with WN would do just fine, and would be head and shoulders better than the "Hound.

I was thinking about flying to San Francisco with Alaska Airlines. But I bought a North America Rail Pass. So I don't get any refund for the trip on the Coast Starlight?