Catching the Sunset Limited from the Coast Starlight

[billmania]

In March of 2024 I plan to travel from Seattle, WA (SEA) to El Paso, TX (ELP), on the Coast Starlight and Sunset Limited. The layover at LAX between the scheduled arrival from Seattle and the scheduled departure for El Paso is a mere 49 minutes. For those who don't already see where I'm going with this, I'm skeptical about arriving at LAX in time to catch the Sunset Limited.

I did a little research for the on-time arrival history of the Coast Starlight and the on-time departure of the Sunset Limited. The two results are here:

Coast Starlight LAX arrivals

Sunset Limited LAX departures

To summarize the results, the Coast Starlight arrived at LAX an average of 1 1/2 hours late and the Sunset Limited departed from LAX an average of 3 hours late.

Since both of these two events have a history of being delayed, what has been your experience with catching the next train? When a passenger is booked on a connecting train, how does Amtrak typically handle late arrivals on the first train? What should one do to prepare and what are the suggested words to use when things don't go according to plan?

There is some related discussion at Missing connections

 

[TinCan782]

Recent discussion...
https://www.amtraktrains.com/thread...t-to-train-2-sunset-limited-connection.86300/

 

[Steve4031]

Make sure that if you book this connection you book both trains on the same reservation so that you will be accommodated in the event of the Starlight being delayed.

You will most likely be bussed to catch up to the Sunset Limited if there is a delay on the coast starlight. IMHO, I recommend spending the night in LA so that you can enjoy your ride on the starlight and not be stressed about making the connection.

 

[billmania]

Make sure that if you book this connection you book both trains on the same reservation so that you will be accommodated in the event of the Starlight being delayed.

You will most likely be bussed to catch up to the Sunset Limited if there is a delay on the coast starlight. IMHO, I recommend spending the night in LA so that you can enjoy your ride on the starlight and not be stressed about making the connection.

Thanks for the recommendation (to assume the Coast Starlight will be too late arriving at LAX).

I plan to chat with Customer Service to get an "official policy" statement from them for this situation.

 

[TinCan782]

In March of 2024 I plan to travel from Seattle, WA (SEA) to El Paso, TX (ELP), on the Coast Starlight and Sunset Limited. The layover at LAX between the scheduled arrival from Seattle and the scheduled departure for El Paso is a mere 49 minutes. For those who don't already see where I'm going with this, I'm skeptical about arriving at LAX in time to catch the Sunset Limited.

I did a little research for the on-time arrival history of the Coast Starlight and the on-time departure of the Sunset Limited. The two results are here:

Coast Starlight LAX arrivals

Sunset Limited LAX departures

To summarize the results, the Coast Starlight arrived at LAX an average of 1 1/2 hours late and the Sunset Limited departed from LAX an average of 3 hours late.

Since both of these two events have a history of being delayed, what has been your experience with catching the next train? When a passenger is booked on a connecting train, how does Amtrak typically handle late arrivals on the first train? What should one do to prepare and what are the suggested words to use when things don't go according to plan?

There is some related discussion at Missing connections

You used a good resource in your research on arrivals and departures. You can however, get connection status history in a single report...
https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/a...f6=1&df7=1&buffer_mins=5&sort_dir=DESC&dfon=1

 

[BlackDiamond]

If it was me, I would definitely overnight in LA rather than risking a long bus ride missing out on part of my train journey and boarding at some station at O dark thirty in the middle of nowhere.

 

[tgstubbs1]

If it was me, I would definitely overnight in LA rather than risking a long bus ride missing out on part of my train journey and boarding at some station at O dark thirty in the middle of nowhere.

Riding a bus would be a big downer, but couldn't the CS be on time one day and then late the next day? so you could end up riding a bus either day.

 

[TinCan782]

If it was me, I would definitely overnight in LA rather than risking a long bus ride missing out on part of my train journey and boarding at some station at O dark thirty in the middle of nowhere.

I would overnight as well EXCEPT, the Sunset Limited is a thrice weekly train so, that overnight could become several!

 

[GAT]

I would overnight as well EXCEPT, the Sunset Limited is a thrice weekly train so, that overnight could become several!

I agree. That means you would have to book the CS for a day earlier than your original plan, not the SL for a day later.

 

[Palmland]

If you decide to leave a day earlier another option is to do your overnight in Santa Barbara rather than LA. We can heartily recommend the Marina Beach Hotel in Santa Barbara. It’s a short Uber ride or a pleasant half mile walk from the station. That way you can have a good dinner and a walk on the beach (half block away) the next morning before catching a surfliner into LA. It’s an older motel that has been wonderfully renovated.

I believe a forum member recommended it long ago and they were right!

 

[JoeRids]

If you decide to leave a day earlier another option is to do your overnight in Santa Barbara rather than LA. We can heartily recommend the Marina Beach Hotel in Santa Barbara. It’s a short Uber ride or a pleasant half mile walk from the station. That way you can have a good dinner and a walk on the beach (half block away) the next morning before catching a surfliner into LA. It’s an older motel that has been wonderfully renovated.

I believe a forum member recommended it long ago and they were right!

I was considering doing this as I am making this exact trip soon. However, I am already ticketed into LAX. Do you think anyone would be adverse to me leaving the train at SBA instead? I think based on the arrival times I would also get dinner in the dining car prior to getting off!

 

[Palmland]

@JoeRids, If you do intend to continue on into LA and beyond you should call and have them modify your ticket. Otherwise you’ll have to pay for a new one to continue into LA the next day. If SBA is the end of the trip then it would be ok to just let the conductor and attendant know when you board. That assumes you won’t have any checked baggage. If you do, call and modify your reservation (but be sure they don’t change your fare).

Yes, hard to pass up a ‘free’ dinner on the train. Although you’ll be eating during the very scenic stretch along the coast. Hope they don’t seat you on the ‘wrong’ side in the diner. I might be tempted to just grab a seat in the lounge car and enjoy it from there with a good dinner in Santa Barbara.

 

[perfessor501]

I am making at the same CS - TE connection, and given the the recent on time record of the CS makes the appears reasonably do-able to me. Hopefully I won't have to use my back-up plan that involves an Uber ride, a late night airline flight, and a missed train ride.

 

[billmania]

You used a good resource in your research on arrivals and departures. You can however, get connection status history in a single report...
https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/a...f6=1&df7=1&buffer_mins=5&sort_dir=DESC&dfon=1

Thanks for pointing out that feature of the historical data. Since I'll be traveling in March of 2024 I thought the history from March 2023 would be more accurate. Unfortunately, it doesn't make Amtrak look very good for this connection Mar 2023 connections at LAX

 

[TinCan782]

Thanks for pointing out that feature of the historical data. Since I'll be traveling in March of 2024 I thought the history from March 2023 would be more accurate. Unfortunately, it doesn't make Amtrak look very good for this connection Mar 2023 connections at LAX

Any of that data should be taken with a grain of salt, much like the weather. What happened last year, last month or last week may not apply to the present or the future!

 

[billmania]

Finally got an "official" policy from Amtrak Customer Relations. On 20 Nov 2023, after waiting on hold for 50 minutes, I spoke with Robin. She told me that even though the web site will allow one to choose a connecting fare from the Coast Starlight to the Sunset Limited, that booking would have eventually been rejected. According to Robin, Amtrak will book connecting train fares only when there are at least two hours between the scheduled arrival of the previous train and the scheduled departure of the following train.

 

[caravanman]

Finally got an "official" policy from Amtrak Customer Relations. On 20 Nov 2023, after waiting on hold for 50 minutes, I spoke with Robin. She told me that even though the web site will allow one to choose a connecting fare from the Coast Starlight to the Sunset Limited, that booking would have eventually been rejected. According to Robin, Amtrak will book connecting train fares only when there are at least two hours between the scheduled arrival of the previous train and the scheduled departure of the following train.

Seems odd that Amtrak offers a connecting booking on the website, but will later "reject" it?
Then again, it is Amtrak...

 

[trainboy325]

I booked and completed this whole trip in December 2022 from SFC-EMY-NOL without any issues last year. The CS was one hour late out of EMY on my trip and we arrived at LAX 45 minutes late. The conductor notified all connecting SL/TE passengers that our connecting train when we were near Ventura that our train would be located on an adjacent track and would wait for the CS should we arrive after their scheduled departure time. In my case, the train arrived about 20 minutes before the SL/TE's scheduled departure time and all passengers and my checked bags made it without issue to the connecting train. The only "issue" was that coach passengers didn't have time to go into the station to make any last-minute food purchases or use the restroom in the station when I talked with a coach passenger the next day in the lounge car. As a sleeping car passenger, this was a nonissue as for me the Metropolitan Lounge in LAX is not large space nor offers anything making me feel as if I missed a special amenity from that trip.

I was able to get my dinner into LAX on the CS and was thankful I didn't get the bustitution to connect with the SL/TE in Ontario or Pomona which I was told happens periodically if the SL/TE is already known to be departing LAX prior to the CS scheduled arrival. As of last year according to my conductor on the CS, this was a guaranteed ticketed connection and the SL/TE will either wait for the CS at LAX and/or a bus bridge will be provided usually from Oxnard to Pomona to make that connection occur should the CS be so late that holding the SL/TE would not be possible for such a long period of time as the pool of motorcoaches readily available from the Pacific Surfliner/LOSSAN thruway bus contractor which has busses and drivers readily available for last minute special runs to provide this busitution.

Good luck and have a great trip whatever you decide to do.