Pacific Surfliner: Reservations required July 19-21, 2013

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Comic-Con or Bust!

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Just wanted to let you all know: Amtrak will be requiring reservations on ALL Surfliner trains July 19-21 to handle the extra passenger load anticipated for Comic-Con International in San Diego and the horse races in Del Mar over that weekend. Also, a Cross Country Cafe car will be added to trains 774 and 595 on Friday, July 19, and trains 768 and 591 on Saturday and Sunday, July 20 and 21, for passengers upgrading to Pacific Business Class.

Official press release here: http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/601/333/Surfliner-Reservations-ATK-13-071,0.pdf

Good thing I made my reservations last month... ;)
 
There was some talk last year that Amtrak needed to "do something" about the heavy loads on this particular weekend. It sounds like they are running a bit of extra equipment (hence the CCC going onto one of the trains...I suspect that means at least that train will be running long), but they're also taking steps to avoid standees as well.
 
Whenever the Races are going on the Surfliners between LAX and SAN and the Track are always Zoos! This is an Excellent Idea. that is Long Overdue and Amtrak and California deserve Credit for Implementing it! (Tip: Business Class is worth the Extra Money on Race Days and Holidays! ;) )
 
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Though it should be noted that this does not actually guarantee everyone will get a seat, since Multi-Ride holders

are still permitted to ride w/o a reservation (per the press release).

Also, it looks like they're bumping up ticket prices for the 19th-21st as well.
 
Well, at least on Friday, July 19, the cross-country cafe will be of no use for southbound riders to the racetrack, since it's on 774 southbound which originates in SLO at 6:55 and doesn't arrive in San Diego until 3:15 (Solana Beach/Del Mar at 2:33 IF on time), and the first race begins at 2.

I guess that some Comic-Con attendees might be on the train though again, they probably would want to take earlier departures from the north so as not to miss half of the day's activities at the San Diego Convention Center.

The Friday, July 19, departure northbound of 595 with the cross country cafe is at 9 p.m., too late for the Del Mar crowd but probably workable for Comic-Con fans. I just question how many Comic-Con fans either can afford business class or even desire the "staid" bc atmosphere compared to more free-wheeling coach with fellow Comic-Con space cadets already on Friday-night "highs."

On Saturday and Sunday, the CCC will be on an earlier train southbound and an earlier train northbound, making it much more useful for bc passengers to and from the racetrack.

All in all, it's a good idea by Caltrans to require reservations and avoid the horrendous mess of standees on the Surfliner cars, which definitely were not built for carrying people standing in the aisles.
 
Well, at least on Friday, July 19, the cross-country cafe will be of no use for southbound riders to the racetrack, since it's on 774 southbound which originates in SLO at 6:55 and doesn't arrive in San Diego until 3:15 (Solana Beach/Del Mar at 2:33 IF on time), and the first race begins at 2.
I guess that some Comic-Con attendees might be on the train though again, they probably would want to take earlier departures from the north so as not to miss half of the day's activities at the San Diego Convention Center.

The Friday, July 19, departure northbound of 595 with the cross country cafe is at 9 p.m., too late for the Del Mar crowd but probably workable for Comic-Con fans. I just question how many Comic-Con fans either can afford business class or even desire the "staid" bc atmosphere compared to more free-wheeling coach with fellow Comic-Con space cadets already on Friday-night "highs."

On Saturday and Sunday, the CCC will be on an earlier train southbound and an earlier train northbound, making it much more useful for bc passengers to and from the racetrack.

All in all, it's a good idea by Caltrans to require reservations and avoid the horrendous mess of standees on the Surfliner cars, which definitely were not built for carrying people standing in the aisles.
You question if Comic Con riders can afford BC? Or if they can handle the BC atmosphere.. I thought I was a jerk.. But that's messed up. How about I question if you can afford BC or if you can handle the BC atmosphere. Last time I checked the BC car is a car with extra legroom and you get a snack pack, and free soft beverages. Not a car requiring proper etiquette. If someone gets out of control the conductor can put them off the train and in the hands of authorities.

As for the CCC I think it's a great idea! AFAIK there isn't a train to SAN from SLO earlier then 655am so passengers can either arrive on that train or a train even later. The CCC is a good call simply cause it'll offer food better then AmDogs and AmBurgers.
 
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You question if Comic Con riders can afford BC? Or if they can handle the BC atmosphere.. I thought I was a jerk.. But that's messed up. How about I question if you can afford BC or if you can handle the BC atmosphere. Last time I checked the BC car is a car with extra legroom and you get a snack pack, and free soft beverages. Not a car requiring proper etiquette. If someone gets out of control the conductor can put them off the train and in the hands of authorities.
Wow...a bit of an over-reaction. I thought the guest made some valid points. S/he wasn't questioning anyone's manhood.

Geez.
 
You question if Comic Con riders can afford BC? Or if they can handle the BC atmosphere.. I thought I was a jerk.. But that's messed up. How about I question if you can afford BC or if you can handle the BC atmosphere. Last time I checked the BC car is a car with extra legroom and you get a snack pack, and free soft beverages. Not a car requiring proper etiquette. If someone gets out of control the conductor can put them off the train and in the hands of authorities.
Wow...a bit of an over-reaction. I thought the guest made some valid points. S/he wasn't questioning anyone's manhood.

Geez.
That's clearly not an "overreaction". Valid points. Some. But I personally find someone who says "Can they afford it" or "Can they handle the BC atmosphere" a bit of a jerk. IMO that's pretty much saying that these potential PAX don't have a job or a life, and don't know how to behave in public.
 
Well, at least on Friday, July 19, the cross-country cafe will be of no use for southbound riders to the racetrack, since it's on 774 southbound which originates in SLO at 6:55 and doesn't arrive in San Diego until 3:15 (Solana Beach/Del Mar at 2:33 IF on time), and the first race begins at 2.
I guess that some Comic-Con attendees might be on the train though again, they probably would want to take earlier departures from the north so as not to miss half of the day's activities at the San Diego Convention Center.

The Friday, July 19, departure northbound of 595 with the cross country cafe is at 9 p.m., too late for the Del Mar crowd but probably workable for Comic-Con fans. I just question how many Comic-Con fans either can afford business class or even desire the "staid" bc atmosphere compared to more free-wheeling coach with fellow Comic-Con space cadets already on Friday-night "highs."

On Saturday and Sunday, the CCC will be on an earlier train southbound and an earlier train northbound, making it much more useful for bc passengers to and from the racetrack.

All in all, it's a good idea by Caltrans to require reservations and avoid the horrendous mess of standees on the Surfliner cars, which definitely were not built for carrying people standing in the aisles.
You question if Comic Con riders can afford BC? Or if they can handle the BC atmosphere.. I thought I was a jerk.. But that's messed up. How about I question if you can afford BC or if you can handle the BC atmosphere. Last time I checked the BC car is a car with extra legroom and you get a snack pack, and free soft beverages. Not a car requiring proper etiquette. If someone gets out of control the conductor can put them off the train and in the hands of authorities.

As for the CCC I think it's a great idea! AFAIK there isn't a train to SAN from SLO earlier then 655am so passengers can either arrive on that train or a train even later. The CCC is a good call simply cause it'll offer food better then AmDogs and AmBurgers.
You can call yourself a jerk but please don't label me with your pejoratives.

There have been numerous articles in San Diego each year of Comic-Con to wit: that a majority of the attendees don't patronize the fancy hotels and restaurants around the Convention Center and in the Gaslamp Quarter, instead shacking up in cheap motels or in apartments of friends living in the area, and therefore the usual economic multipliers used to estimate the economic benefits of conventions do not fully apply in for Comic-Con. Therefore I think it's a reasonable point to bring up whether some Comic-Con participants coming by train to San Diego would opt for the extra expense of business class.

Further, as someone who has ridden both coach and business class hundreds and hundreds of times between San Diego and Los Angeles, going back to 1975, I can speak with some authority that I have never seen a party-style atmosphere in Pacific Surfliner business class but have often seen it in the regular coaches on weekends and during holiday evening trains. It's a function of the clientele. And conductors on the Pacific Surfliner, in my opinion, are far more relaxed about these things than conductors on Amtrak trains in other parts of the country where I have ridden.

If you read my post re the CCC, there is absolutely no criticism of Amtrak California adding it to some of the consists. My point was that because of the Friday running times, there will probably be few people going to the racetrack who will be on that train. The vast majority of riders southbound to the track board at LA or south.

Now, if you have facts that argue in part or whole to what I have written, please make them. But don't make assumptions and ascribe false motives when you are on very shaky ground.
 
Well, at least on Friday, July 19, the cross-country cafe will be of no use for southbound riders to the racetrack, since it's on 774 southbound which originates in SLO at 6:55 and doesn't arrive in San Diego until 3:15 (Solana Beach/Del Mar at 2:33 IF on time), and the first race begins at 2.
I guess that some Comic-Con attendees might be on the train though again, they probably would want to take earlier departures from the north so as not to miss half of the day's activities at the San Diego Convention Center.

The Friday, July 19, departure northbound of 595 with the cross country cafe is at 9 p.m., too late for the Del Mar crowd but probably workable for Comic-Con fans. I just question how many Comic-Con fans either can afford business class or even desire the "staid" bc atmosphere compared to more free-wheeling coach with fellow Comic-Con space cadets already on Friday-night "highs."

On Saturday and Sunday, the CCC will be on an earlier train southbound and an earlier train northbound, making it much more useful for bc passengers to and from the racetrack.

All in all, it's a good idea by Caltrans to require reservations and avoid the horrendous mess of standees on the Surfliner cars, which definitely were not built for carrying people standing in the aisles.
You question if Comic Con riders can afford BC? Or if they can handle the BC atmosphere.. I thought I was a jerk.. But that's messed up. How about I question if you can afford BC or if you can handle the BC atmosphere. Last time I checked the BC car is a car with extra legroom and you get a snack pack, and free soft beverages. Not a car requiring proper etiquette. If someone gets out of control the conductor can put them off the train and in the hands of authorities.

As for the CCC I think it's a great idea! AFAIK there isn't a train to SAN from SLO earlier then 655am so passengers can either arrive on that train or a train even later. The CCC is a good call simply cause it'll offer food better then AmDogs and AmBurgers.
Now, if you have facts that argue in part or whole to what I have written, please make them. But don't make assumptions and ascribe false motives when you are on very shaky ground.
So I need facts to back up my statement that passengers going to Comic Con have lives and jobs?

Let me ask who you are saying that I'm on "Very Shaky Ground"? I've been a member of this forum for well over 5 years, have 3600 posts of Knowledge.

If I'm being told off by a guest then I'm seriously going to consider leaving this Forum.
 
The idea that Comic-Con attendees are "cheap" is, at best, grossly inaccurate. Adult 4-day with Preview Night badges sold for $175, and single days were $42 (except Sunday, which was $24). There are plenty of collectibles and other items (some of which are convention exclusives and aren't available anywhere else) in the Exhibit Hall that can sell for hundreds of dollars, and routinely sell out. And why drop a couple thousand dollars on a high-priced fancy hotel room you're barely going to see or a couple hundred on a two-hour lunch/dinner at a fancy restaurant when you're going to be spending the majority of your time at the convention and the growing number of offsite events, from 4 in the morning or even earlier (waiting in lines for some of the more popular Q&A panels) until 10 or 11 at night (yes, panels do run that late). As a ten-year attendee of Comic-Con, I can safely say that most attendees aren't being cheap, they're simply being practical and prioritizing what they want to spend their money on, and where they want to spend their time.
 
The idea that Comic-Con attendees are "cheap" is, at best, grossly inaccurate. Adult 4-day with Preview Night badges sold for $175, and single days were $42 (except Sunday, which was $24). There are plenty of collectibles and other items (some of which are convention exclusives and aren't available anywhere else) in the Exhibit Hall that can sell for hundreds of dollars, and routinely sell out. And why drop a couple thousand dollars on a high-priced fancy hotel room you're barely going to see or a couple hundred on a two-hour lunch/dinner at a fancy restaurant when you're going to be spending the majority of your time at the convention and the growing number of offsite events, from 4 in the morning or even earlier (waiting in lines for some of the more popular Q&A panels) until 10 or 11 at night (yes, panels do run that late). As a ten-year attendee of Comic-Con, I can safely say that most attendees aren't being cheap, they're simply being practical and prioritizing what they want to spend their money on, and where they want to spend their time.
That actually makes a lot of sense and says that the usual factors that economists apply don't include lifestyle and other hard-to-measure choices that consumers make at these venues.

It also makes sense in that often the bc on the Pacific Surfliners is not a smart choice if you are looking for legroom and a quieter car because almost all Surfliner consists run with at least one comfortable, spacious long-distance Superliner coach, usually purloined from the Sunset consist sitting in the LA yards, because of car shortages. There no doubt will be Superliner coaches on the consists next week and because everyone needs to have a reservation, they will be available without having to pay a bc surcharge, unless you want to pay extra for one free soft drink and a very pedestrian snack box (or a cellophane-wrapped muffin or danish and a thimble size carton of OJ in the morning bc cars). Of course, if you're on the trains with the Cross-Country cafe cars, it might be worth it, assuming that they will be preparing meals and not just having a second snack car counter available. That's not clear from the press release.
 
I'm betting those CCC cars at best, would only be selling the regular AmCafe food, nothing more.

And Acela 150? Geeze dude, I really don't think ur time on forum, or number of postings has anything to do with knowledge.

A poster, guest or "5 year veteran", still needs to be persuasive in situations where disagreements come up. It seems to me u were just being more "reactive" and acting insulted. While I don't "like" the FACT that the Guest may have intimated that Comic-Con attendees PROBABLY are on the cheap sude, (that is a "generalization, I know) I think the Guests overall assesment is spot-on.

One could make a similar generalization about "good tippers" vs. "bad tippers", based on ethnicity, sex, and/or age. And that generalization would SURELY **** off a LOT of people, and paint the poster as either sexist, racist, or ageist, but it still might be true.......
 
I hope this is testing the waters for use of the CCC on all SAN-SLO trains. (and maybe a few SAN-SBA if there are enough cars). That would be a terrific re-purposing of the maligned original plan for these cars. Heck, the San Joaquin used to have table service in it's "diners" with one server and one cook, why not?
 
Unfortunately there is no "ignore" button for guests..

I'm seriously trying to figure out why I'm under attack on AU.. It happens once every few months. I'm sick of it! I say one thing and it's like the vultures are out to get me.
 
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Unfortunately there is no "ignore" button for guests..
I'm seriously trying to figure out why I'm under attack on AU.. It happens once every few months. I'm sick of it! I say one thing and it's like the vultures are out to get me.
It's because we're all secretly jealous of the Acela and its speed and relative reliability. :)
 
:hi: Id venture to say that overall you, like most of us on AU, get lots of enjoyment sharing info with other train buffs! I understand not wanting to be attacked by someone who you have no idea who they are but agree with the other Posters that say fugid-a-bout-it! Don't let guest who is probably a troll ruin your day or live in your head! Weve all been challenged and even attacked for Posts on AU, even the Big Dogs that run the Forum! Dont let an unknown jerk ruin your fun! ;)
 
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