EB to CS No Longer Supported

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H

HasTy

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I just received a phone call from Amtrak that they are no longer supporting the EB to CS connection and that I would be accommodated on the SWC to LA and a San Joaquin to my final destination. Just a heads up for those planning this trip!!!!
 
Shawn Ryu said:
I suppose I have to spend a night in Portland to make the connection now. I aint takin no stinkin bus.
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Who said anything about a bus? Going from Chicago to central California, they'll route you as the OP said, via L.A. instead of Portland. (I'm guessing it's hours faster than the Zephyr)
 
guest said:
Shawn Ryu said:
I suppose I have to spend a night in Portland to make the connection now. I aint takin no stinkin bus.
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Who said anything about a bus? Going from Chicago to central California, they'll route you as the OP said, via L.A. instead of Portland. (I'm guessing it's hours faster than the Zephyr)
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If you take the SWC to LA and then a San Joaquin to final destination, it will require a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from LA to Bakersfield.
 
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When was the last time the EB made its published schedule? Do any of you think they should change the schedule? I don't think the Bakken Oil Fields are going to deplete any time soon. Is double tracking going to be a reality?. I'm just not up to snuff on any recent developments. Thanks guys for any info.
 
Devil's Advocate said:
Why can't Amtrak do anything to improve the EB's performance? Isn't this getting a little ridicules at this point?
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Amtrak is not exactly in the position to order the oil companies to stop or slow down drilling and fracking in the Bakken oil field. Until the growth in drilling operations slows down, pipelines are built, and/or BNSF catches up on capacity, the EB is going to face challenges in keeping on schedule.
 
Devil's Advocate said:
Why can't Amtrak do anything to improve the EB's performance? Isn't this getting a little ridicules at this point?
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Well, if one measure of a train's performance is getting people to their destination on the originally planned day and using the originally planned

mode of transportation, then arguably Amtrak IS "improving" the EB's performance by severing most connections. Sad to say, but not offering

the connections in the first place will leave fewer people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone arriving in PDX/CHI 4 hours late with no

planned connection is going to be much less irritated than someone arriving in PDX/CHI with an unexpected 24-hour stopover ahead of them.

So if severing connections = happier customers, then the EB's performance is on the mend. I know, that's really a backwards way of solving a

problem, but I guess if you're Amtrak you do what you can.
 
I had already decided on my own that the next time I wanted to take the EB from Spokane to connect to the CS southbound, such as going to the gathering in Sacramento, for example ;) :lol: I was going to Seattle and stay over rather than risk the same-day connection in Portland anyway. To me the extra cost of a hotel and the higher fare from Seattle southbound is worth it for the peace of mind it will give me.
 
It would be nice if Amtrak would book overnight connections for AGR purposes. MSP-LAX used to be a 20,000 point 2-zone roomette but will now require 35,000 points (2 zones MSP-PDX, 1 zone PDX-LAX).

It also seems that the Chicago connections are more important than the west coast ones, so pushing up the departure time of #8/#28 to around 10:30 am might be a good way to go...
 
anir dendroica said:
It would be nice if Amtrak would book overnight connections for AGR purposes. MSP-LAX used to be a 20,000 point 2-zone roomette but will now require 35,000 points (2 zones MSP-PDX, 1 zone PDX-LAX).

It also seems that the Chicago connections are more important than the west coast ones, so pushing up the departure time of #8/#28 to around 10:30 am might be a good way to go...
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That is a good point. CS and EB from LAX to MSP is two zone, but back the other way will be 3 zone.........
 
anir dendroica said:
It would be nice if Amtrak would book overnight connections for AGR purposes. MSP-LAX used to be a 20,000 point 2-zone roomette but will now require 35,000 points (2 zones MSP-PDX, 1 zone PDX-LAX).

It also seems that the Chicago connections are more important than the west coast ones, so pushing up the departure time of #8/#28 to around 10:30 am might be a good way to go...
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However, a Minneapolis-St. Paul to Los Angeles connection via Seattle would still be a two zone redemption, though you might have to clue in the AGR agent as to that fact. The scheduled (good luck with that one!) arrival time of the EB into Seattle, at 10:25 AM, and the scheduled departure of the CS, at 9:35 AM the next day, is permitted as it falls, within 20 minutes, of the 23 hr 30 minute rule for layovers.
 
No it isn't, because that's not a published route.

Edit to add:

Where a published route contains a valid connection of 23 hours, 30 minutes or less, an overnight stay in the connecting city is permitted at the passenger's own expense. (Example: one-way travel from New York to El Paso, where the published route requires an overnight connection in New Orleans, would be permitted on the same redemption.)
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Bold mine.
 
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RyanS said:
No it isn't, because that's not a published route.

Edit to add:

Where a published route contains a valid connection of 23 hours, 30 minutes or less, an overnight stay in the connecting city is permitted at the passenger's own expense. (Example: one-way travel from New York to El Paso, where the published route requires an overnight connection in New Orleans, would be permitted on the same redemption.)
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Bold mine.
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Well, scratch that idea then.
 
Just wondering, but since the Builder comes into SEA 50 minutes after the Starlight leaves, wouldn't CHI-SEA-LAX now be a legal connection? It might be time to petition Amtrak to add that general routing for AGR purposes...not so much for CHI-LAX, but MSP-LAX? Glacier Park-EMY?

Edit: So, who can we contact to request this one?
 
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Anderson said:
Just wondering, but since the Builder comes into SEA 50 minutes after the Starlight leaves, wouldn't CHI-SEA-LAX now be a legal connection? It might be time to petition Amtrak to add that general routing for AGR purposes...not so much for CHI-LAX, but MSP-LAX? Glacier Park-EMY?

Edit: So, who can we contact to request this one?
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Flyer Talk/AGR Forum (AGR Insider :Anthony) would be a Good Place to Pose this Question Cliff! As I said in your other Post, you Too Can Join! ^_^ ^_^
 
Wow! I did not see that coming. The one time I did EB-CS trip, I had enough time to arrive in Portland, spend an hour in the lounge having snacks and watching TV, then walk out and visit the city, come back, sit some more in the lounge, and then take the CS. If all that time is also not "safe" for connection according to Amtrak, they should just outright shut shop on connections and go the Southwest Airlines way. Only single journeys. No connections at all. Period. Will save them a ton of money putting up people in hotels in Chicago.
 
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