Coast Starlight discussion 2023 Q4 - 2025

[travelmore621]

To piggy-back on this thread....we will be arriving at Burbank station on the Coast Starlight slightly before 9:00 pm. We are planning to take a bus to our hotel in Burbank. Do we meet the public transit generally in the same area as the station? (I feel stupid for saying this,) is it safe at night?

 

[F900ElCapitan]

The Burbank Airport station is quite safe. There might be one or two homeless on the benches, but they don’t seem to bother anyone. The bus stops are on the west end of the station and are fairly easy to get to (just head towards the rear end of the train). Then figure out which side of the street you need to be on for the direction you wish to travel. It’s all pretty easy to see on the satellite view on Google Maps.

 

[DebChar04]

Hello. My name is Debra, and I just recently found out about this forum. It's nice to be here. I have a question and hopefully someone can answer it. I will be taking the Coast Starlight down to Los Angeles where I need to connect with the Sunset Limited going to New Orleans. If the Coast Starlight is late getting into Los Angeles and I miss the Sunset Limited I will have to wait 2 days before I can get the next train going to New Orleans. I was told that if this happens Amtrak will put me up in a hotel. Does anyone know if the Coast Starlight is usually late getting into Los Angeles? I am trying to get to New Orleans to see my mother who is in her last days of life. Flying is not an option. If anyone can answer this question it would be greatly appreciated

 

[trimetbusfan]

Hello. My name is Debra, and I just recently found out about this forum. It's nice to be here. I have a question and hopefully someone can answer it. I will be taking the Coast Starlight down to Los Angeles where I need to connect with the Sunset Limited going to New Orleans. If the Coast Starlight is late getting into Los Angeles and I miss the Sunset Limited I will have to wait 2 days before I can get the next train going to New Orleans. I was told that if this happens Amtrak will put me up in a hotel. Does anyone know if the Coast Starlight is usually late getting into Los Angeles? I am trying to get to New Orleans to see my mother who is in her last days of life. Flying is not an option. If anyone can answer this question it would be greatly appreciated

As long as you book the two segments together under the same reservation, you should be fine. Note that with connection in particular connection Amtrak often has a lot of alternatives to use before opting to put passengers in a hotel until the next available.

https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/connections.php?a_train_num=11&c_train_num=2&station=LAX&date_start=12/01/2024&date_end=02/28/2025&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&buffer_mins=5&sort_dir=DESC&dfon=1

This website shows exactly how many connections have been "made" at LAX. (Only 15% or so were missed, since December). However, note that Amtrak has alternatives in many cases to connect passengers from 11 to 2, when 11 is delayed.

The alternatives (which are made at Amtrak's discretion) are typically as follows:
1) If 11 is estimated to arrive into LA between 10pm 10:45PM, #2 will hold at LA until 11 arrives.

2) If 11 is estimated to arrive into LA shortly after the time stated above, a special "connecting bus" between ~Oxnard to Palm Springs will be arranged to passengers making the transfer. #2 would hold for the connecting bus somewhere around Palm Springs.

3) If 11 is severely (several hours) delayed upon arriving in Sacramento, Amtrak will have passengers disembark 11 there and take the San Joaquins route through the valley (which is much faster) to make #2 on-time from LAX.

Between these 3 alternatives, Amtrak rarely - if ever - misses this particular connection to the point where they have to put people in a hotel.

 

[zephyr17]

Hello. My name is Debra, and I just recently found out about this forum. It's nice to be here. I have a question and hopefully someone can answer it. I will be taking the Coast Starlight down to Los Angeles where I need to connect with the Sunset Limited going to New Orleans. If the Coast Starlight is late getting into Los Angeles and I miss the Sunset Limited I will have to wait 2 days before I can get the next train going to New Orleans. I was told that if this happens Amtrak will put me up in a hotel. Does anyone know if the Coast Starlight is usually late getting into Los Angeles? I am trying to get to New Orleans to see my mother who is in her last days of life. Flying is not an option. If anyone can answer this question it would be greatly appreciated

That is a guaranteed connection as long as it was booked on the same reservation number.

1. There is significant pad into LA. If the train is close to on time at Santa Barbara, it'll usually be a half hour or more early in LA. The connection is not as close as it looks.
2. If it loses significant time north of Sacramento, they will transfer connecting passengers to the San Joaquin train/bus connection at Sacramento/Martinez/Emeryville. That is significantly faster than the Starlight. They'll also rebook Bay Area passengers onto the San Joaquin.
3. If it loses significant time south of the Bay Area so the connection is endangered, they will usually set up a bus bridge between Oxnard and Pomona or Ontario for 11-2 connecting passengers.

While, if all else fails, they will lay passengers over for two days, that seldom happens. A reroute or bus bridge are the usual solutions.

 

[oregon pioneer]

Hello. My name is Debra, and I just recently found out about this forum. It's nice to be here. I have a question and hopefully someone can answer it. I will be taking the Coast Starlight down to Los Angeles where I need to connect with the Sunset Limited going to New Orleans. If the Coast Starlight is late getting into Los Angeles and I miss the Sunset Limited I will have to wait 2 days before I can get the next train going to New Orleans. I was told that if this happens Amtrak will put me up in a hotel. Does anyone know if the Coast Starlight is usually late getting into Los Angeles? I am trying to get to New Orleans to see my mother who is in her last days of life. Flying is not an option. If anyone can answer this question it would be greatly appreciated

This is only a 49 minute connection, will they guarantee it? Chances are high you will miss it and be delayed two days. My solution to that problem is (and this is the ONLY solution if they won't book it as a guaranteed connection):

I take the Coast Starlight to San Luis Obispo the day BEFORE I want to catch the Sunset Ltd. Then I catch an earlier Surfliner into LAX, allowing plenty of time for the transfer.

Good luck, and I hope you make it in time to sit with your mother. It's a precious experience to sit with a close relative and ease their passage.

 

[zephyr17]

This is only a 49 minute connection, will they guarantee it? Chances are high you will miss it and be delayed two days. My solution to that problem is (and this is the ONLY solution if they won't book it as a guaranteed connection):

I take the Coast Starlight to San Luis Obispo the day BEFORE I want to catch the Sunset Ltd. Then I catch an earlier Surfliner into LAX, allowing plenty of time for the transfer.

Good luck, and I hope you make it in time to sit with your mother. It's a precious experience to sit with a close relative and ease their passage.

11-2 is a guaranteed connection at present as long as it is booked on a single reservation. It does not have to be forced through Multi-City city the connection will show when Starlight to Sunset points are requested. That means the guarantee is in force. Period, end of story.

The 60 minute guideline is just that, a guideline. There are some connections that are less than 60 minutes that are guaranteed, such as 11-2, and several that are longer that are not.

Amtrak itself determines whether a guaranteed connection will be offered on a connection by connection basis. It isn't cut and dry and you cannot just look at the 60 minute internal guideline and determine for yourself whether the guarantee applies.

11-2 is a guaranteed connection and the guarantee will be protected by the methods I listed on my previous post.

With that said, laying over at a Surfliner point is not a bad idea because it provides peace of mind and eliminates worries about how the train is doing or the possibility of long bus rides. But there is no need for @DebChar04 to upend her plans to do that. Laying passengers over to the next Sunset is a very, very rare occurance. If the Starlight is very late, chances of being on a bus or the San Joaquin and some buses are pretty high, but the chances of a two day layover in LA are pretty low.