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I have a question. I seem to recall that President Reagan proposed cutting funding to Amtrak at various points in the 1980s. Did this actually make it into his administration's budget proposals, and if so how serious was it treated in Congressional discussions at the time?

Lepearso makes some great points, and it would be great if all parties could come together and fashion a long-term strategy for Amtrak that would include federal financial assistance, federal-state partnerships, and a tough but fair evaluation of routes and services. I'll believe it when I see...

Man, California is responsible for about half of the state funding according to those figures. I'm glad to know I'm getting something of value from my state taxes.

I took the San Joaquin from Oakland to Fresno yesterday and unbeknowst to me they had had a ceremony to mark the renovation of the station there, as reported here. The station looks like a very nice example of a Spanish design, and is certainly an improvement over the current cramped quarters.

I stayed in a hostel after taking the Vermonter to St. Albans and then the bus to Montreal a couple of years ago, so I don't have specific recommendations on hotels but at the time most seemed significantly cheaper than equivalent U.S. hotels. I'm not sure how the exchange rate compares now...

Congratulations!

There's an interesting article about possible expansion of VRE to Charlottesville here. The Charlottesville to DC proposal looks viable to me. The Bristol to Richmond route, although perhaps a noble idea, will struggle to get passengers, I think.

I saw about five minutes of this movie on a flight from Oakland to Chicago.

It seems obvious that Amtrak has suffered from its failure to be included in long-term transportion planning and policy. The interesting question, I think, is what would be the consequence of its inclusion rational, long-term planning. I love trains and am extremely happy, and more than a bit...

I see ads for Amtrak quite often in major newspapers in cities with passenger rail service as well as magazines, particularly those with some focus on travel. I know that the SF Chronicle has them with some regularity. The ads are quite striking actually, with artwork that recalls the classic...

Go Cal! Go Bears!

When I take the train down to L.A. and do the tourist thing, I usually walk around Hollywood. You can look at the plaques in the sidewalk on the walk of fame and go to Mann's Chinese Theater and see the footprints of actors and actresses. You can also sometimes go to tapings of TV shows there...

I was down there yesterday. There's a Courtyard by Marriott and a Four Points by Sheraton right behind the Woodfin, and some type of Holiday Inn behind them.

Thanks for the info. So let me see if I understand this correctly. Can I call and make a reservation for a round-trip between, say, Emeryville and Denver, and a round-trip between Emeryville and Seattle that would occur two weeks after that, and a round-trip between Oakland and Los Angeles...

I saw on Amtrak's website that they have information on Explore America passes. I'd seen this in print, but not on the website before. (Perhaps it was there and I just didn't see it.) Is this program always in effect?

I'm thinking of getting a California Rail Pass at the end of this summer and familiar with most of the routes included except the Coast Starlight north of Sacramento amd the bus line north of the Bay Area toward Eureka. My question for those more familiar with these areas is: What stop or...

There's some information here. Basically, as stated, the trains seem to run on time about 90% of the time, but you never know when there will be a problem with a freight train, or broken levee, etc. A couple of weeks ago, a train in Sacramento was delayed by the presence of a private railcar...

I'd recommend taking your daughter on a commuter train or something of the sort if you can before your trip. I was on Caltrain from San Jose to San Francisco a couple of weekends ago and there was a family with two daughters, one about four and the other around two. The older child had no...

If I were traveling southbound, I would actually get off at Oakland instead of Emeryville and leave my baggage at the station there. Then you get take the 72 or 72M bus (the station is the end of the line so there's usually a bus or two waiting there), or walk the ten blocks to the Oakland City...

I took the Coast Starlight from Oakland to Los Angeles on January 5th this year when there was a snowstorm in the Pacific Northwest. The train got into Jack London Square about 2:30 pm, and we got into Union Station between 2 and 2:30 am. Public transportation wasn't running at that hour, so I...