First Class Lounge to open in LA Union Station?

[yarrow]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. Remember, you heard it here first!

nice, on the spot, reporting

 

[WesternRailFan]

Great news. I am scheduled to arrive and depart the LA Union Station early September. Thanks for the update.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. Remember, you heard it here first!

That is great news! :hi: Thanxx!

I'll be there in October, so it might even actually be open when I'm in town!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. Remember, you heard it here first!

As if I'd believe anything I read on the Internet! :giggle:

 

[the_traveler]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. Remember, you heard it here first!

As if I'd believe anything I read on the Internet! :giggle:

You know the Internet is never right!

 

[leemell]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. Remember, you heard it here first!

Yessss!

 

[Rail Freak]

Wouldnt you know it, I'll be there on the 17th!!!

 

[oregon pioneer]

I'm hoping it will be open for us on Christmas Day, when we change trains form the SL to the CS!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. Remember, you heard it here first!

Nothing like Eye Witness Reports from someone you know and Trust! :hi:

 

[zephyr17]

Yay! Then it should be open when I am taking the SW Chief September 19.

 

[guest in the west]

A curious notice though. Is the new lounge going to be a general waiting room area in the early morning hours, perhaps meaning the main waiting room will be closed off for better security purposes? And will the new lounge then be for LD and BC pax with amenities at other times?

The notice does raise questions about how the LA facility could be operating quite differently from others around the country, perhaps as a consequence of the involvement of Caltrans and the LA regional transportation authority?

 

[zephyr17]

Sure sounds like it. It kind of makes sense, because it sounds like the new Metropolitan Lounge is going to be near and above the Amtrak ticket office, which is open pretty much 24/7. So they can centralize all the security there and close the rest of the building.

 

[the_traveler]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge.

Sounds to me like the "Lounge" will be open 24 hours a day! That does not sound like any ML I know of, with snacks and drinks!

 

[guest in the west]

Saw a sign in LAUS this morning saying effective August 19th, station hours will be changing. Passengers arriving at LAUS between 1AM and 4AM will be directed to the Metropolitan Lounge.

Sounds to me like the "Lounge" will be open 24 hours a day! That does not sound like any ML I know of, with snacks and drinks!

well, hopefully not snacks and drinks between 1 and 4 a.m. or the entire parolee population from the nearby County Jail as well as the area homeless will be figuring out ways to join in the festivities, security or no security! Maybe the graveyard shift TSA folks will hang out there and keep order!

 

[zephyr17]

My bet is they won't have it open 24 hours. They'll open it without the amenities 1-4, then close it. Then open with amenities and staff it from like 7am until sometime in the evening and close it, put all the stock away, and open it again as a waiting room at 1. That is all speculative.

On another note, I hope they use some of LAUS's classic big leather(ette)chairs in the new lounge. They should have at least a few of the ones they took out of the old ticketing wing when they closed it around someplace.

 

[Bob Dylan]

My bet is they won't have it open 24 hours. They'll open it without the amenities 1-4, then close it. Then open with amenities and staff it from like 7am until sometime in the evening and close it, put all the stock away, and open it again as a waiting room at 1. That is all speculative.
On another note, I hope they use some of LAUS's classic big leather(ette)chairs in the new lounge. They should have at least a few of the ones they took out of the old ticketing wing when they closed it around someplace.

The Sunset Ltd. pulls in three Mornings a Week around 4:30-5AM so the Lounge would need to be Staffed and have Snacks and Drinks then!(only Train with Sleeping Cars till its time for #3 to Roll in, then the evening Trains #4/#11/ and three Nights a week #2! Also if Biz Class Pax on the Surfliners and S+ and SE Members plus United VIPs are allowed in it pretty much would need Staffing, Snacks and Drinks from 4:30AM-10:00PM or whenever #11 Arrived and #2 Loaded!

The Leather Chairs are a Great Touch , I hope Amtrak does better than using the Old Vinyl Chairs like they did in in King Street Station in Seattle!

 

[zephyr17]

I think the "core" hours should be like 7:30 am (allow for SWC's often early arrival) to 9:30 pm (open for 30 minutes after CS arrival). On Sunset arrival days, I think they could wait to open it until around 6:30 when the Sunset sleeper passengers get kicked off. So the hours would be from 6:30 am to 10 pm Sundays and Wednesdays, when both 1 & 2 operate, 6:30 am to 9:30 pm on Monday, (1 arrives), 7:30 am to 10 pm on Sunday (2 leaves). So there'd only be an hour variance off of "core" hours for Sunset days.

You could make an argument that it doesn't need to open for arrivals, that it is primarily for departing passengers, but I think it ought to be available. LA isn't as big a connection point as Chicago, but people DO connect there.

Well, hopefully we'll know what it really is going to be shortly!

Edit: Had the arrival time of the CS wrong. I've gotten into LA at 8:30 often enough the last couple years, that I thought it was the scheduled time.

 

[the_traveler]

Also in the evening, the CS arrives at ~9 PM and the SL/TE depart ~10 PM. And I think there is a later Surfliner also. Then if the CS arrives late, it has to be open and staffed. And then, it would open at 1 AM? :huh:

Sounds like 24 hours to me!

 

[the_traveler]

I think the "core" hours should be like 7:30 am (allow for SWC's often early arrival) to 9 pm (open for 30 minutes after CS arrival). On Sunset arrival days, I think they could wait to open it until around 6:30 when the Sunset sleeper passengers get kicked off.

I, and most other sleeping car passengers, get off when the train arrives - usually around 4:30 AM. Even though you (supposedly) can stay in your sleeper until 6:30, I wonder how many do and can sleep with the noise in the hallway, on the platform and all the other trains and passengers coming and going at LAUS!
So what are those sleeper passengers supposed to do for 2 hours? :huh:

 

[JayPea]

Took a closer look at that sign and it says starting August 19th at 1AM, ticketed passengers and those with legitimate travel needs will be directed to a seating/lounge area between the hours of 1AM to 4AM. All others will be booted out of LAUS. Sounds as if LAUS will be closed except for the lounge between those hours. I'll see if I can find out more about the lounge tomorrow. It also shows where it's located but I'm of no use there as I get dyslexic in large buildings. :wacko:

 

[rickycourtney]

JayPea-

If its not too much to ask... Take a picture of the sign or the map and post it up here!

Thanks!

 

[JayPea]

Just talked to the attendant at the Traxx Lounge at LAUS and he said the lounge will be open all day, will be for sleeping car and business pax only, and located upstairs.

 

[the_traveler]

So that's conflicting information. One post said "if you arrive between 1 and 4 am and have a legitimate reason, you'll be directed to the ML". Another post says "it is only for sleeping car and BC passengers".

Say someone is on the CS and it arrives late at 1:30 am. They're in coach and connecting to a Surfliner, also in coach. (Or I think there's also an overnight bus to SAN.) Where do they wait? :huh: Both are in coach, and per an earlier post, they close the station and kick everyone out!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Maybe the let the coach passengers in the lounge between 1 am & 4 am ?

 

[JayPea]

They only kick out those who aren't traveling ie the homeless. The lounge will be located above the ticketing windows upstairs. Coach passengers have a legit reason for being there so they would be fine.