Sunset Limited Arrival in Los Angeles

[printman2000]

Pretty sure I read that the Sunset Limited timetable use to say "Sleeping car passengers arriving at Los Angeles are welcome to occupy their accommodations until 6:30 a.m."

However, I am unable to find that on the March 2015 timetable.

I DID however see that it still says it on the Texas Eagle timetable.

Anyone know if they are still doing this? Or ever did this?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Since #1/#421 is the same train from SAS-LAX, if the Texas Eagle timetable says staying aboard until 6:30@m is allowed, then it would apply to #1 also even though they are separate Sleepers with the Eagles on the rear and the Sunsets in the front.

Based on my experience, people start waking up around the stop in Pomona and then the Coach attendants start making announcements when the train gets into the yards leading into LAX.

Once the train hits the stops @ Union Station you can hear people bustling around, the SCA starts asking people if they want Redcaps etc. Also the SCA will want to remake the beds, do the trash etc. So sleeping is pretty much our of the question once youre in LA.

Philippe and the joints inside Union Station along with the Metro Lounge open @ 600am and the Commuter trains are coming and going so you might as well detrain @ 6am, take your stuff to the lounge and hit Phileppe or have a continental breakfast in the Lounge!

 

[the_traveler]

I personally have never wanted to stay aboard after arrival - even when it arrived at 4:30 am. With all the noise both inside the car and on the platform, you couldn't sleep anyway, so why not just leave? :huh:

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I personally have never wanted to stay aboard after arrival - even when it arrived at 4:30 am. With all the noise both inside the car and on the platform, you couldn't sleep anyway, so why not just leave? :huh:

In my case I've managed to sleep through the entire arrival and deboarding process with ease. If you can sleep soundly and if the SCA stays off the PA and if the other passengers don't make too much noise then it's absolutely doable. On my last trip I woke up with about ten minutes before the Sunset headed toward the yard. That was a huge plus in my book and made it easier to consider the SL again in the future. Not everyone is a morning person so why would I get up at 4:30 when I could be sleeping until six? :huh:

 

[Dakota 400]

My Sunset Limited arrived 10 minutes earlier than the schedule. I was up well before this. showered and dressed, and watched the final minutes arriving at LAX. Others along with me had a very long wait on trackside before a Red Cap with cart was able to reach us. Thus, I could observe the disembarkation of much of the rest of the train. From the Coaches: I think most, if not all, left. From the Sleeping Cars, there were the stragglers. But, there were no issues with them, that I could see. Being able to remain aboard until the stated time did not seem to be an issue.

(But, when I asked about that time with my SLA, the response I heard was something like "the sooner everyone leaves the car, the sooner I can leave for home.)

 

[ehbowen]

Remember that, for all passengers who boarded east of the Arizona border (or California border in winter), that 5:30 arrival feels like 6:30 due to the time change. For those passengers who were on board in El Paso (boarded Alpine and east), it feels like 7:30...2 hours time change (in one day).

 

[Guest]

I very much planned to sleep in until 6am upon arriving into LAX, but the SCA provided "complimentary" wake up calls in Pomona. My suspicion is that the SCA wanted his passengers off the train so that, as someone remarked above, he could leave for home earlier. Sure enough, 30mins later, I saw him beelining it through union station. I still gave him a good tip because his service was otherwise outstanding.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Remember that, for all passengers who boarded east of the Arizona border (or California border in winter), that 5:30 arrival feels like 6:30 due to the time change. For those passengers who were on board in El Paso (boarded Alpine and east), it feels like 7:30...2 hours time change (in one day).

If I board at 2:30AM in San Antonio my sleep schedule is already being seriously impacted. Traveling to the Pacific Time zone doesn't magically reset my internal clock. Nor does my internal clock dictate when anything opens in Los Angeles. Nor does it discount a full day's charge for a few hours of rest in a hotel before checkout time. I've traveled from one end of this planet to another and 4:30AM is considered damn early nearly everywhere. This is a major inconvenience for me and the only saving grace is that you can sleep in if you buy a sleeper. If Amtrak does away with this at the behest of the SCA's or because they think it "feels" later than it really is then I'll no longer be able to justify traveling on the SL.

 

[printman2000]

Reported elsewhere by Gene Poon...

According to a Los Angeles source, there is to be a change in how Sleeping Car passengers are handled off an early Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle into Los Angeles.

Effective May 1, sleeper passengers will get off the train on arrival and be taken to the Metropolitan Lounge. The lounge normally opens at 5am, but days when Train 1 arrives earlier than that, it will open at 430am.

One Question: What happens when #1 arrives as early as 411am...which it has?

The statement that says sleeper passengers can stay on board till

0630 is supposed to have been taken out of all the timetables, but it appears in the National one. OOPS...

But it is getting close to May 1...and no official paperwork has been posted.

Aboard the train there has been a minor OBS change. The (Los Angeles) attendant in the Texas Eagle sleeper now goes through to Ft. Worth.

The Chicago attendant for that car gets on in San Antonio and the Los Angeles employee then works the train's sleeper and the first coach behind the lounge. Prior to that the LAX attendant was working to

Austin alongside the Chicago attendant. The change was apparently

[SIZE=11pt]done due to numerous complaints about the Chicago OBS employees.[/SIZE]

Again, the Eagle timetable also still mentions staying on board until 6:30am.

 

[fairviewroad]

sleeper passengers will get off the train on arrival and be taken to the Metropolitan Lounge

They'll be taken to the lounge, eh? What happens if they'd rather leave the station? Is it mandatory to make an appearance in the lounge first?



That said, it's nice to hear that the lounge will be open at that hour. But kicking folks off the train would seem to be a devaluation of the sleeping

car passengers' experience in this case.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Depart from a station serving 2.3 million at 2:45AM and arrive at a terminal serving 12 million at 4:30AM three times a week with no option to avoid being kicked off the train. Yeah I think I'll pass on that nonsense. If they had showers and daybeds in the lounge I might not object but as it currently stands this is a rather lousy schedule for my purposes.

 

[shelzp]

I've taken the train a number of times and the room attendants bang on all the doors and start shouting that it is time to rise and shine.

 

[SteveSFL]

Looks like the SL passengers will be able to sleep late on Monday morning. #1 is running about 7 hours late on account of a late Texas Eagle.

 

[printman2000]

Gene Poon has reported elsewhere...

Official word is out (we heard the report here a couple of weeks ago): Effective May 1, 2015, Sleeping Car passengers on the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle, Train 1/421 will no longer be permitted to remain on the train in Los Angeles until 630am.

Should the train arrive before scheduled arrival time of 535am they can stay on aboard until that time. The Los Angeles Metropolitan lounge will open at 5am, Monday thru Friday. Train 1 arrives on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 

[tomfuller]

Amtrak may have reasons other than customer convenience for not holding the SL in Ontario until 4AM. They might even be able to make some coach revenue by allowing coach passengers to board in ONA at 3:55AM. Phillipe's doesn't open until 7AM so I wouldn't leave the lounge before 6:45 after stashing my bag there.

 

[fairviewroad]

Amtrak may have reasons other than customer convenience for not holding the SL in Ontario until 4AM. They might even be able to make some coach revenue by allowing coach passengers to board in ONA at 3:55AM. Phillipe's doesn't open until 7AM so I wouldn't leave the lounge before 6:45 after stashing my bag there.

Yeah, it does strike me as odd that the make ONA a "D" stop westbound yet it's an unrestricted stop eastbound. They should at least make the westbound stop an "L" stop to allow people to connect from ONA to Surfliner destinations, etc. Though of course a 3x a week train at 0355 doesn't really do people much good.

 

[philabos]

#1 arrived LAUPT 0424 May 1, 1 hour 11 minutes early.

 

[PeeweeTM]

Yep. Two redcaps for the needy people, so we walked to the lounche. An extra redcap or two would be nice for the waiting people, but there's of course a pricetag attached on the guestimated early arrival.

Coming from Chicago, the early arrival wasn't a problem.

TE had some delays on the way south, the conductor kept us informed. Some of the food options ran out on the Sunset at lunchtime.

Not a bad trip.

Peter, from San Diego

 

[Yumacool]

I am traveling tonight on the Sunset aboard a sleeper (I board at 11:49 p.m. in Yuma with scheduled arrival the following early morning in Los Angeles.) My question is, has Amtrak officially changed its policy of allowing sleeping car passengers to remain in their rooms until 6:30? I've ridden this train several times before and have been allowed to do this. I've read a great many diverging opinions here ...

Thanks for your help

Chuck

 

[pdxjim]

The current policy is this:

Effective May 1, 2015, Sleeping Car passengers on the Sunset

Limited/Texas Eagle, Train 1/421 will no longer be permitted to
remain on the train in Los Angeles until 630am.

Should the train arrive before scheduled arrival time of 535am they
can stay on aboard until that time. The Los Angeles Metropolitan
lounge will open at 5am, Monday thru Friday. Train 1 arrives on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I verified this info from Train Orders with Customer Relations.

Jim

 

[Thirdrail7]

The current policy is this:

Effective May 1, 2015, Sleeping Car passengers on the Sunset

Limited/Texas Eagle, Train 1/421 will no longer be permitted to

remain on the train in Los Angeles until 630am.



Should the train arrive before scheduled arrival time of 535am they

can stay on aboard until that time. The Los Angeles Metropolitan

lounge will open at 5am, Monday thru Friday. Train 1 arrives on

Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I verified this info from Train Orders with Customer Relations.

Jim

It seems this may no longer be the case. If the train arrives early, passengers are expected to disembark, regardless of how early the train arrives. Realistically, how often will this even be an issue? :huh:

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

The current policy is this:

Effective May 1, 2015, Sleeping Car passengers on the Sunset

Limited/Texas Eagle, Train 1/421 will no longer be permitted to

remain on the train in Los Angeles until 630am.



Should the train arrive before scheduled arrival time of 535am they

can stay on aboard until that time. The Los Angeles Metropolitan

lounge will open at 5am, Monday thru Friday. Train 1 arrives on

Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I verified this info from Train Orders with Customer Relations.

Jim

Would all passengers be able to go to the lounge or just sleeping car passengers and the coach passengers have to fend for themselves in Union Station at 5:35am?

 

[willem]

The station is open 24 hours. I would expect coach passengers would not be granted access to the lounge.

According to ASMAD, train 1 has arrived before the lounge's scheduled opening time 12 times in the past two months.

When the new policy of prompt disembarking was announced, someone at Train Orders asked if the lounge would open early when the Sunset Limited arrived before 0500. I did not see an answer to that question.

 

[AmtrakLKL]

An update to this policy was posted today stating passengers may remain onboard until the scheduled arrival time of 5:35am, even if the train arrives early.

 

[nshvlcat]

My largest concern about the Sunset Ltd. is arriving so early in LA and not being able to get into any hotel room until 3PM. Taking the SW Chief does not completely solve this problem unless either train is horribly late.