if Coast Starlight is late, when does Amtrak's SF bus leave to mee

[tricia]

If the Coast Starlight, southbound, is running late, does the connecting bus from San Francisco still leave on schedule, to arrive at Oakland at 8:25 AM? If the train is running REALLY late, I'd rather spend several hours in San Francisco than at Amtrak's Jack London Sq station, so I'm doing some contingency planning....

Does anyone know if it's possible to temporarily (for an hour or two or ??) check bags at Amtrak's Ferry Bldg station? The idea would be to check bags, do some touristy things, then pick up the bags and take BART and the Emery Go Round to the EMY station to catch the CS southbound there. Does this sound doable?

This, BTW, is trip planning for a week from now, on Friday Feb. 1. We'll be connecting to the Sunset Ltd at LAX. Does anyone know how long they'd hold that train for late-arriving southbound CS passengers booked to connect with it?

Perhaps that last question belongs in a different thread---but this forum isn't usually shy about branching off from a post's original topic. ^_^

 

[Bob Dylan]

The Bus is a Guaranteed Connection with the CS, so no matter what time the Train arrives, the Bus will get you to Jack London Square on time! (No need to ride BART or Ride Around Oakland!) The Ferry Terminal Station in SF is just like a Regular Train Station, just No Trains! There are Agents and you can Make a Rez, do Tickets, Day Check your Bags (current policy is $4 per Bag except in NYP and WAS),Check Luggage etc.

The CS to Sunset Connection in LAX is Guaranteed but if the CS is running Really Late you May be Bustituted to Catch the Sunset Down the Line!

(There is No hard and Fast Rule, like all things Amtrak, it Depends! <_<

 

[PRR 60]

The Bus is a Guaranteed Connection with the CS, so no matter what time the Train arrives, the Bus will get you to Jack London Square on time! (No need to ride BART or Ride Around Oakland!) The Ferry Terminal Station in SF is just like a Regular Train Station, just No Trains! There are Agents and you can Make a Rez, do Tickets, Day Check your Bags (current policy is $4 per Bag except in NYP and WAS),Check Luggage etc.
The CS to Sunset Connection in LAX is Guaranteed but if the CS is running Really Late you May be Bustituted to Catch the Sunset Down the Line!

(There is No hard and Fast Rule, like all things Amtrak, it Depends! <_<

The question is whether the bus departure time from San Francisco is changed if the southbound Starlight is running very late. For example, if the Starlight is running four hours late, does the bus still leave SF at the usual time, leaving you to wait at OKJ for four hours for the train to arrive, or will the bus departure be moved back reducing the time at the station? I have no idea.

 

[roadman3313]

The bus will always operate on the bus schedule. The only exception is when waiting for passengers from a connecting train that is late. If you are traveling to a late CS at OKJ the bus will still operate is if the train was on time.

Recently train 11 has been on-time to OKJ so it hopefully shouldn't be an issue.

As always trains can make up time enroute so if you choose to connect using other means, you do so at your own risk.

 

[fairviewroad]

For one thing, the bus and the bus driver are probably expected to go somewhere/be somewhere else after doing the San Fran-OKJ run, so it would

cause a lot of hassle if the bus just sat in downtown SF for a few hours so that some passengers could do more sightseeing. So while it seems like

a reasonable request, it doesn't make a lot of sense operationally.

[Obviously there's some level of flexibility built in for buses that transport passengers ARRIVING off of long-distance trains, since it's expected

that those will be late on occasion.]

That's not to say that you couldn't try to talk the agent at the Ferry Building into re-ticketing you on a later bus (say, putting you on a bus to EMY

meant for Capitol Corridor passengers. But I'm thinking that's a bit of a long shot.

 

[tricia]

Thanks for the replies. I won't have internet while traveling (looking forward to taking a break from email) but will aim to post a trip report when I get back, Here's our itinerary, starting Feb. 1:

San Francisco Amtrak bus to OKJ to catch Coast Starlight south to LAX

Sunset Ltd LAX to Tucson; spend a couple of days there (my husband will fly home from Phoenix)

Texas Eagle Tucson to Chicago

Capitol Ltd Chicago to DC

Crescent DC to Toccoa, GA

From El Paso to Toccoa is an AGR ride, BTW. They've detoured me through Chicago because the Crescent won't be running due to track work between NOL and ATL on the day I'd need to travel there.

Thanks to all who post so much useful info on this forum. So helpful for working out travel logistics....

 

[JoeSF]

Instead of going to Emeryville to catch the CS, you could take Caltrain down the peninsula to San Jose and catch it there. Trains leave every hour after the morning rush hour, but it takes about 90 minutes, plus time to get to the station on Muni (take the N or K/T Muni metro from the Embarcadero station near the Ferry Building).

Also, Jack London Square in Oakland has its charms. It's near the waterfront and has some shops and cafes, very walkable. If the train is really late you could visit the Oakland Museum of California, about a 5 minute walk from the station.