Emeryville to San Francisco during CZ > CS Layover

[frugalist]

Well the big thing here is again to pay attention to the times, there are several stops between SAC and EMY where one can bail out if you're running late.

My biggest concern however, is what happens if you're so late that you'd even miss connecting in Sacramento. While I don't think that Amtrak would leave you stranded and on your own, it could still happen since the guaranteed connection is SAC and you've broken that connection by booking EMY.

Alan, there is nothing in our confirmation email to indicate this is or is not a guaranteed connection. When I booked the trip, I was not advised that this is not a guaranteed connection. How can I be certain one way or another? We certainly don't want to be stranded.

I realize the likelihood of missing the connection is low, but I need to know Amtrak will take care of us one way or another.

 

[AlanB]

My biggest concern however, is what happens if you're so late that you'd even miss connecting in Sacramento. While I don't think that Amtrak would leave you stranded and on your own, it could still happen since the guaranteed connection is SAC and you've broken that connection by booking EMY.

Alan, there is nothing in our confirmation email to indicate this is or is not a guaranteed connection. When I booked the trip, I was not advised that this is not a guaranteed connection. How can I be certain one way or another? We certainly don't want to be stranded.

I realize the likelihood of missing the connection is low, but I need to know Amtrak will take care of us one way or another.

Since there are several people who are all in the same boat here with this issue of EMY vs SAC for the connection, I used up one of my chips and called in a favor from someone I know. After checking around a bit to make a concerted effort to ensure that they were getting the correct info, I'm told the following.

ARROW shows that Emeryville is a guaranteed connection between the Zephyr and the Coast Starlight, so all passengers are protected in the event that the CZ runs 10 or more hours late. In that event you would most likely still be taken off the CZ at SAC and not EMY, such that Amtrak can accommodate all connecting pax in one place.

So you'd overnight in Sacramento, or if you prefer you'd sack out in SAC. :lol: That's assuming that they don't bus you to connect with the CS.

None of this however changes my earlier advice, and the source also mentioned this to me, be aware of what's going on when you wake up that morning. If you are running late, be it late enough to miss connecting entirely even in SAC or just late enough that you may not be able to connect in EMY, be proactive and don't wait for someone from Amtrak to come to you! Seek out the conductor or ask your attendant to get the conductor for you and explain to them that you are indeed connecting and that you need their help to know what to do. They know where the padding is in the schedules and they have a pretty good idea on just how often they get delayed within that area and the chances of making up/loosing time.

Make sure that where you jump off is both a stop for the CS & CZ and make sure that they inform and/or get word to the CS crew that you won't be boarding at EMY, but instead further up the line.

 

[Rail Freak]

Thanx Alan!

 

[darien-l]

Thanks for the thorough research Alan! Out of curiousity, did your contact mention whether EMY is a guaranteed connection point between CZ and CS both ways, or just westbound CZ to northbound CS? The reason why I'm asking is because on my return, I'd much rather stay on the train, have breakfast, and disembark at EMY at 8 AM, as opposed to dragging myself out of bed and getting off in SAC at 6 AM.

 

[frugalist]

Alan, thank you very much for checking this out. What you found out is very reassuring and will put our minds at ease in the unlikely event of the CZ being more than 10 hours down.

Still, we hope that everything runs on time and our biggest problem is finding out the best way to get from Emeryville to San Francisco for a few hours.

 

[AlanB]

Thanks for the thorough research Alan! Out of curiousity, did your contact mention whether EMY is a guaranteed connection point between CZ and CS both ways, or just westbound CZ to northbound CS? The reason why I'm asking is because on my return, I'd much rather stay on the train, have breakfast, and disembark at EMY at 8 AM, as opposed to dragging myself out of bed and getting off in SAC at 6 AM.

Well let's start with, are you ticketed on the return to EMY or SAC? If SAC, then no, you cannot remain on the train.

That said, no, my contact didn't indicate what would happen in the other direction since I didn't ask that question. However, checking with Amtrak.com and the multi-city function, one can indeed book a trip that connects in EMY in the reverse direction from what we were originally talking about. And since that connection meets the minimum of 1 hour between connecting trains, that would under Amtrak rules make it a guaranteed connection.

Personally however, I'm not real sure that I'd want to risk a 1-1/2 hour connection from the CS to the CZ. I'd be looking at something further north, assuming that you don't want SAC. And again, you'd have to be ticketed for a destination south of SAC to ride south of SAC.

 

[darien-l]

Our trip is in 2011, so we'll miss each other by a few days.

Sounds like I may be the first to attempt this, then. I'll report on my experiences in early September.

As promised, here's a quick report on my experiences:

My train (#5 CZ) rolled into EMY on August 29 at 3:55 pm, 15 minutes ahead of schedule. My companion and I went inside the station, spoke to the ticket agent, and stored our bags ($3/bag). We then mentioned that we just arrived on the California Zephyr, are connecting to the northbound Coast Starlight, and would like to take the motorcoach to San Francisco for a few hours. The conversation went something like this:

Agent: So you're saying you want a ticket to San Francisco?

Me: Yes, please.

The agent then handed me two tickets: Berkeley to EMY on some Capitol Corridor train, and EMY to San Francisco Ferry Building.

Agent: That would be $8.50 each, please.

Me: But we already have train tickets. Can't you just issue the bus connection?

Agent: I'm sorry, but that's the only way I can do this.

On the way back, we simply boarded the bus at Pier 39 with no tickets. Just telling the driver that we were taking the northbound Coast Starlight sufficed.

Moral of the story: You might want to try your luck with the bus driver first, before going through the trouble and expense of purchasing dummy train tickets.