Lamy to Denver Connection

[PaulM]

I'm booked on the eastbound SWC from LMY to Raton, connecting to Thruway bus 8604 to Denver. The scheduled layover is only 15 minutes: 4:50PM to 5:05. The ticket says the bus is operated by Greyhound; and there is regularly scheduled Greyhound running only from Raton to Denver on the same schedule as my ticket (and same as the SWC time table). If it is a dedicated Amtrak bus, I wouldn't be concerned even though Amtrak Status Maps Archive Database shows an average delay over the last month of 1:01 for #4 at Raton.

There is also an Albuquerque to Denver Greyhound that departs Raton at 6:50PM. Three times in the past month even this connection would be missed. I've had the pleasure of unexpected hotel stays in Chicago, but what about Raton? Has anyone had experience with this. FWIW in the past I did see an over the road bus backed up to the tracks during a smoke break on #4 at Raton.

I see that the 5:05 bus from Raton calls only at Denver Union Station, whereas the 6:50 calls only at the Denver Greyhound station. This seems to indicate the 5:05 will wait for #4.

 

[the_traveler]

Even though the Raton to Denver bus is Greyhound, I believe it is operated like a Thruway bus (waits for train). I believe that run only operates for the SWC. (I could be wrong about that, I thought I heard that.)

 

[Lonestar648]

The bus is usually waiting for the train to arrive.

 

[Palmetto]

The bus is usually waiting for the train to arrive.

But the question is: does the bus wait or not?

 

[Palmetto]

Trip Advisor lists several hotels of national chains in Raton. They don't seem to be very near the station, though. Not too sure about taxi service.

 

[greatcats]

Raton Pass Motel is a nice place to watch trains. Sorry, not real helpful.

 

[railiner]

The bus is usually waiting for the train to arrive.

But the question is: does the bus wait or not?

Good question...is it considered a "guaranteed connection" by Amtrak? Best to see it in writing somewhere on Amtrak's site, I suppose. That they will hold the bus for a late train, or reaccommodate you in some other fashion...

 

[the_traveler]

But Raton is unstaffed! Who would reacommodate a passenger?

 

[Lonestar648]

It was my understanding the bus waits for the train. Like said above, being an unstaffed station, who is going to take of those missing the buss if it didn't wait.

 

[railiner]

It was my understanding the bus waits for the train. Like said above, being an unstaffed station, who is going to take of those missing the buss if it didn't wait.

That's another good question....

It's possible that someone in Amtrak's office that arranges for such, could do it remotely, if notified by the train crew, I suppose...but not sure if that ever happens anywhere....

 

[PaulM]

OP here. I can't give a definite answer because the SWC was only a couple minutes late.

I did ask the driver and he said the bus would wait one hour. The odd thing is that it does pick up passenger in Pueblo and Colorado Springs. When I mentioned to the driver that the hound website that sells these tickets doesn't mention that the actual arrival time of the bus is at the mercy of Amtrak, he said that is an interesting point.

So I still don't know what would happen if the last bus at 6:50PM were missed.

 

[railiner]

Since the bus will only wait one hour for the train. Greyhound probably doesn't think it necessary to tell prospective passenger's of that possibility. Greyhound does have a "bus tracker" that will tell their passenger's the updated status, if it is running late. And there's a fair chance that over the distance from Raton to Denver, the bus will recover some of that lost time....