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MARC Rider

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How does the Lamy - Santa Fe Shuttle work? The description on the Southwest Chief Timetable is unusual for a Thruway service: It has no departure and arrival times, but says if you're going to Santa Fe, you have to make reservations in advance, but if you're coming from Santa Fe, they'll pick you up at your hotel and call the day before.

How long does this trip take? (Google Maps shows it as being 25 minutes)

If you're getting ff the train at Lamy, where do they take you in Santa Fe? To your hotel or a single location? Would they take you to the airport? (We are going to pick up a rental car.)

What kind of vehicle do they use? A van, minibus, regular bus?

Any limitations on baggage? (We will be checking baggage on the train and will have a bit more than the carry-on limit, including skis.)
 
My wife and I used this service about 10 years ago. It's a van with a trailer for luggage. They meet the train and take you to your destination in Santa Fe, in our case a B and B. When you depart, you call the company and arrange a pick up time. I guess they would take you to the airport. It seems like a small, family-run outfit that has done this for years. I don't know if they do anything else.
 
If the shuttle picks you up and takes you to your hotel, that'd be suitable for your trip in. But I doubt they would then take you to the airport in ABQ. The train station in ABQ is only about 5 miles from the airport.

Kinda to Jim's point, take the train to Santa Fe and enjoy the shuttle to your hotel. Then, if your departure is from ABQ, then take the NM Railrunner (unless it's a Sunday, then you're outta luck). I heard there were some groupons for $5 unlimited riding on the Railrunner...
 
I think the poster is looking to rent a car at the small Santa Fe Airport Have you looked for downtown car rental places? Often renting a car at off-airport locations is cheaper because you ovoid all the pesky airport fees.
 
We are heading back to Santa Fe in February for our second Santa Fe vacation. It makes for a wonderful rail journey, and the Santa Fe area has so much to offer.

Like you - we would really like to take the shuttle over from Lamy to Santa Fe, but in our case there is a fee of $20 per person - and there are ten of us at $20 each ($200 total). So we plan to remain on the westbound train, and hop off in Albuquerque, and rent our cars there.

Since we are using AGR Reward points there is no difference in Lamy or Albuquerque. Both are Two Zone Awards. But the shuttle is not included, since it is a private service. But the shuttle service will get you into Santa Fe much quicker - if arriving from the east on the westbound Southwest Chief. If you were arriving from the west on the eastbound Chief I would definitely get off in ABQ and rent a car there, the ride up to Santa Fe is mostly Interstate and quite scenic.

BTW - there is a very nice Enterprise location in Albuquerque located about two blocks from ABQ rail station. They will drive over, pick you up with your luggage, and drive you the two blocks over to get your vehicle. Affordable rates too.
 
VentureForth said:
If the shuttle picks you up and takes you to your hotel, that'd be suitable for your trip in. But I doubt they would then take you to the airport in ABQ. The train station in ABQ is only about 5 miles from the airport.

Kinda to Jim's point, take the train to Santa Fe and enjoy the shuttle to your hotel. Then, if your departure is from ABQ, then take the NM Railrunner (unless it's a Sunday, then you're outta luck). I heard there were some groupons for $5 unlimited riding on the Railrunner...
Click to expand...
RailRunner runs on Sunday, although on a limited schedule.
 
abcnews said:
Since we are using AGR Reward points there is no difference in Lamy or Albuquerque. Both are Two Zone Awards. But the shuttle is not included, since it is a private service.
Click to expand...
Specifically, it is not included because Amtrak codes it as a 7000 series Thruway bus. There are other "private" Thruway connections that are eligible

as part of an AGR redemption, but the Santa Fe shuttle is not one of them.
 
I took it a couple years ago, the driver met us in a 12-seater van. There's an extra luggage trailer for when there are lots of passengers, I'm sure they can accomodate extra luggate if you call ahead. Most people are going to one of the hotels in downtown Santa Fe, so anywhere on the way should be fine, not sure about the airport (just call them, I think the whole business only has a few people).

There's a nice bar and restaurant attached to a railroad museum across the street from the Lamy station.
 
SubwayNut said:
I think the poster is looking to rent a car at the small Santa Fe Airport Have you looked for downtown car rental places? Often renting a car at off-airport locations is cheaper because you ovoid all the pesky airport fees.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I was looking to do. Going all the way to ABQ means we don't get to Santa Fe until after dinner when you consider the transfer to the airport, getting the rental car, and driving north. I'm coming from Chicago, and I think the SW chief gets into Lamy at 2 as opposed to 4 for ABQ.

I may look into a downtown car rental, but my plan is a one-way rental to Denver, and often the downtown car rental locations don't do one-way rentals. In fact, when I was researching this, Hertz wouldn't let me do a one-way rental ending at Denver Union Station, which is oneof their locations, I'm going to have to drive all the way out to DIA to return the car and take a bus back into town. Also, downtown car rentals usually close at 6, the location at the Santa Fe Airport closes at 10, just a little insurance if the SWC is running a bit late.
 
MARC Rider said:
I may look into a downtown car rental, but my plan is a one-way rental to Denver, and often the downtown car rental locations don't do one-way rentals. In fact, when I was researching this, Hertz wouldn't let me do a one-way rental ending at Denver Union Station, which is oneof their locations, I'm going to have to drive all the way out to DIA to return the car and take a bus back into town. Also, downtown car rentals usually close at 6, the location at the Santa Fe Airport closes at 10, just a little insurance if the SWC is running a bit late.
Click to expand...
In case anyone's curious: "downtown" car rental locations are usually franchises, whereas "airport" locations are usually company-owned. Franchises often restrict one-ways because they don't want to "lose" one of their cars, or deal with someone else's car.
 
I've also run into this situation with one-way rentals. When I'm going to be around a few days at one or the other end, I change cars during the rental period, leaving my luggage in the motel and doing the transit between local and airport during a convenient time.
 
Hi folks. Looking for Amtrak-expert advice. As a follow-on to the original topic: the scheduled shuttle van departure (according to the Amtrak booking site) is 2 hours after the arrival of the Eastbound train. Is this really true? (I know the Westbound train comes through about an hour later.)

If it is true, should I

(a) just book to ABQ and catch the Railrunner (Sunday; my hotel is only 1/2 mile from the Santa Fe depot) - this saves about $30 off the Amtrak fare to Santa Fe, or

(b) stick with the van anyway...
 
firstcultural said:
There's a nice bar and restaurant attached to a railroad museum across the street from the Lamy station.
Click to expand...
Which has been closed for years.

The shuttle adjusts its timetable for the trains. If both trains are arriving close together, passengers on the earlier train may have to wait for the later one. It will take you to downtown Santa Fe locations, but I doubt if it will go to the airport, which is sort of in the wrong direction. You would be better off renting a car at one of several downtow locations (which the shuttle will certainly take you to) than the isolated Santa Fe airport, which has so few flights it is open limited hours. When you are ready to leave Santa Fe, you call the shuttle and arrange pickup. The trip takes 30-45 minutes depending on how many Santa Fe stops they make. Going through Albuquerque and taking the Railrunner would be more complex because of the need to mesh Amtrak and Railrunner schedules.
 
aspro said:
Hi folks. Looking for Amtrak-expert advice. As a follow-on to the original topic: the scheduled shuttle van departure (according to the Amtrak booking site) is 2 hours after the arrival of the Eastbound train. Is this really true? (I know the Westbound train comes through about an hour later.)

If it is true, should I

(a) just book to ABQ and catch the Railrunner (Sunday; my hotel is only 1/2 mile from the Santa Fe depot) - this saves about $30 off the Amtrak fare to Santa Fe, or

(b) stick with the van anyway...
Click to expand...
If you are coming in on the Eastbound, I think I'd rather do my waiting in ABQ for the Railrunner. It's true that if Amtrak is on schedule, it's during a lull in the Railrunner schedule. But, depending on how much luggage you have to babysit, I would rather spend two hours in ABQ than Lamy.
 
I've heard good reports about the Lamy - Santa Fe bus (van, whatever).

But, last May, I chose to detrain 2 hours later in Albuquerque, and use the Rail-runner. Which is also good, but less good on Sunday.

Sunday in ABQ -- transit is near zero, weekdays the $2 allday bus pass will get you train station to airport no problem.

Sunday in ABQ -- not so good. (paid 2 $40 cab fares to retrieve my lost bags at the airport - yeah an airline problem)

On a Sunday, I'd choose the Lamy-Santa-Fe shuttle. Just my 2 cents.

Weekdays - the ABQ bus routes are cheap and good, and the Rail-Runner -- real good. Sundays - not so much.

<edit> I totally loved the 3 days I was in ABQ and Santa Fe. I would totally trust the Lamy-Santa Fe shuttle. Might be a little worrisome to book - I think you have to call Amtrak special to book the shuttle.

Let me say again - the whole New Mexico place was double plus good - me cynical but very pleased with being there, even the very good burrito sold to me for a dollar at the laundromat.

I'l go there again - soon.
 
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