Amtrak to SJ 49ers

[The Davy Crockett]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

From this article at the SF Chronicle:

Young and old in a sea of red and gold, they came from any number of points on the compass, but all agreed on one thing: riding Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor to Levi’s Stadium was just about as easy as it could get.

“This is probably only the second time in my life I’ve ever ridden on a train,” said Anthony De Leon of Clyde as he prepared to board the 10:15 departure in Martinez. “I found out only a couple days ago that it takes you from here and drops you off at the front door.

“Why would you drive?”

De Leon was not alone in that sentiment.

An Amtrak employee, who asked not to be identified, said the 10:15 train had 267 riders who were disembarking in the shadow of the stadium. The previous train – which left Martinez at 9:10 – had 398 similarly destined riders.

“Those trains only hold a little more than 400 people, so I’d say it was almost only 49er fans on that train,” said the employee.

The 1:45 ride left a minute early and arrived and departed each of the seven stations prior to Santa Clara within 2 minutes of the scheduled times.

While the Amtrak employees knew where they were going and how long it would take to get there, for many of the riders the trip was test run to see whether the cost ($48 round trip from Martinez) and time investment was worth it.

“I’m a season ticket holder and I used to drive in to San Francisco, park at a bar and ride a bus to Candlestick,” said Ron Rackerby of Santa Rosa, who made the one-hour drive to Martinez from his home in Santa Rosa. “I heard that the (Earthquakes’ Aug. 2) soccer game was a complete mess, so I decided to give this a try.

“If this (the train) doesn’t work out, I’ll have to figure out something else. And at the end of the season I’ll decide whether I want to keep my tickets.”

Amtrak was certainly doing its part to make the ride enjoyable.

“This is the café car,” an announcement began just outside Emeryville. “Please keep in mind that our drinks here are half the price of those at the stadium. So we welcome you to start the party on Amtrak.”

And so they did.

Puts Amtrak's booze prices into perspective...

...And the LSA didn't confuse Levi's with Disneyland!

 

[SarahZ]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

I think you mean the San Francisco 49ers.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

I think you mean the San Francisco 49ers.

Have you seen on a map where the new 49ers stadium is?

 

[JayPea]

Go Seahawks!

 

[BCL]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

I think you mean the San Francisco 49ers.

Have you seen on a map where the new 49ers stadium is?

Nobody has it right in this thread yet. It's the Santa Clara 49ers.

I see the new stadium every time I take the Capitol Corridor to/from GAC. I can see it from where I work. Man is that one ugly building. I was thinking it wasn't finished, but apparently that's it. The square office building on the west side looks really weird, like they took out one side of the stadium and dropped that thing in after the fact.

 

[chakk]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

I think you mean the San Francisco 49ers.

Have you seen on a map where the new 49ers stadium is?

It should be the Santa Clara 49ers.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Sounds like the New Jersey Giants.

 

[chakk]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

I think you mean the San Francisco 49ers.

Have you seen on a map where the new 49ers stadium is?

Nobody has it right in this thread yet. It's the Santa Clara 49ers.

I see the new stadium every time I take the Capitol Corridor to/from GAC. I can see it from where I work. Man is that one ugly building. I was thinking it wasn't finished, but apparently that's it. The square office building on the west side looks really weird, like they took out one side of the stadium and dropped that thing in after the fact.

May look weird, but at least it is safe in the event of a fire -- my stepson was on the contracting team that did the fire protection engineering for the new stadium. And now they've been hired by the City of Cupertino to assist in their design review of a similar system for Apple's new "Spaceship Headquarters" building under construction.

And to keep with the Amtrak theme, they bid on the contract for a new fire safety system for the Carquinez Straits bridge near Martinez that carries the CZ and Capitol Corridor trains. (But I think another firm won out.) He tells me it was quite impressive to walk across the bridge in the company of Union Pacific RR staff as part of the "pre-bid site visit", but looking down between the ties to the water a hundred or so feet below was a bit queasy.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Relax people :excl:

I know its in Santa Clara. I've driven by the new monstrosity. Most folks who are not in the Bay Area don't have a clue where Santa Clara is, but they know where San Jose is.

Do you know the way to San Jose? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqWt49o7R-k

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I'll be finding my way to San Jose soon...via Amtrak.

 

[SarahZ]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

I think you mean the San Francisco 49ers.

Have you seen on a map where the new 49ers stadium is?

Ohhhhh. Sorry. Now I see what you did.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Ohhhhh. Sorry. Now I see what you did.

Yeah, I took 'sarcastic' license!

 

[The Davy Crockett]

And to keep with the Amtrak theme, they bid on the contract for a new fire safety system for the Carquinez Straits bridge near Martinez that carries the CZ and Capitol Corridor trains. (But I think another firm won out.) He tells me it was quite impressive to walk across the bridge in the company of Union Pacific RR staff as part of the "pre-bid site visit", but looking down between the ties to the water a hundred or so feet below was a bit queasy.

I hope UP does something to fix up the bridge soon. UP says its safe, but I've heard mumblings that its not as safe as they claim...

 

[BCL]

Relax people :excl:

I know its in Santa Clara. I've driven by the new monstrosity. Most folks who are not in the Bay Area don't have a clue where Santa Clara is, but they know where San Jose is.

Of course people know where Santa Clara is. It's the home of Great America........unless you're from the Midwest.

 

[roadman3313]

If you travel in a group it is a great opportunity to take advantage of the Capitol Corridor "Take 5" promotion. Pay one full adult fare (1-day advance purchase) and take up to 5 more for just $5 each (irrespective or origin and destination). If traveling as a single they also have a 25% off train travel on game days to/from Levi Stadium (GAC station). They can't be combined but it's nice they have the discounts available.

I did see they tried to run 6-car consists (instead of 4-5 cars) for the game day trains. I saw a few running on Monday (left over from Sunday's trips). The redesign of the weekend schedule and rescheduling of the trips to San Jose seem to help as well and correspond much better with the game times (though the Amtrak Status Map schedules could still use some updating)

ACE also runs a special train on game day Sunday's from Stockton to Levi's Stadium (Great America). With the station literally being steps away it seems like a great way to beat the traffic and parking hassles.

 

[BCL]

If you travel in a group it is a great opportunity to take advantage of the Capitol Corridor "Take 5" promotion. Pay one full adult fare (1-day advance purchase) and take up to 5 more for just $5 each (irrespective or origin and destination). If traveling as a single they also have a 25% off train travel on game days to/from Levi Stadium (GAC station). They can't be combined but it's nice they have the discounts available.

I was intrigued, and looked up the offer (code V544). It's not just game days and the terms don't require attending an event. Not like the Raiders (OAC) or Cal football (BKY) promotions, which are only valid for game days.

http://www.capitolcorridor.org/special_offers/Levi%27s_Stadium.php

Could be useful since I use GAC to get to work.

 

[fairviewroad]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

From this article at the SF Chronicle:

The 1:45 ride left a minute early

Uh oh.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Relax people :excl:

I know its in Santa Clara. I've driven by the new monstrosity. Most folks who are not in the Bay Area don't have a clue where Santa Clara is, but they know where San Jose is.

Of course people know where Santa Clara is. It's the home of Great America........unless you're from the Midwest.

Dude, you need to get out of South Bay more often, otherwise one's world view becomes this:

 

[The Davy Crockett]

At least some good is coming from the San Jose 49ers new home.

From this article at the SF Chronicle:

The 1:45 ride left a minute early

Uh oh.

See photo above... Life is just one big ride in SoBay :giggle:

 

[BCL]

Relax people :excl:

I know its in Santa Clara. I've driven by the new monstrosity. Most folks who are not in the Bay Area don't have a clue where Santa Clara is, but they know where San Jose is.

Of course people know where Santa Clara is. It's the home of Great America........unless you're from the Midwest.

Dude, you need to get out of South Bay more often, otherwise one's world view becomes this:

I remember that ride before they painted it black and added the first two ellipical loops. The company that made it was based in Mountain View at the time Heck - I remember when CA-237 wasn't a freeway. From where we lived in the East Bay, we had to drive several miles across an undivided highway with traffic signals. It wasn't much different than driving down El Camino Real.

 

[the_traveler]

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Of course I do! It's 2 stops south of EMY on the CS!

 

[Bob Dylan]

The way the Niners are playing the Trains might be empty by Sept!

Go Seahawks!

 

[sechs]

I see the new stadium every time I take the Capitol Corridor to/from GAC. I can see it from where I work. Man is that one ugly building. I was thinking it wasn't finished, but apparently that's it. The square office building on the west side looks really weird, like they took out one side of the stadium and dropped that thing in after the fact.

Hey, but it's only killed, what, three people so far?

 

[BCL]

I see the new stadium every time I take the Capitol Corridor to/from GAC. I can see it from where I work. Man is that one ugly building. I was thinking it wasn't finished, but apparently that's it. The square office building on the west side looks really weird, like they took out one side of the stadium and dropped that thing in after the fact.

Hey, but it's only killed, what, three people so far?

Less than the Golden Gate Bridge. And its number keeps on increasing.

I know that "Mount Davis" in Oakland gets well-deserved criticism for being ugly. However, it was an afterthought. It was a monstrosity dropped in to add a club section, more luxury boxes, and extra seating.

This thing started from a clean slate on a flat piece of land. It's a mess of all sorts of weird design. I mean - a rectangular steel/glass office building with a deck of seating on it? Then add the strange sharp-edged contours of the stadium. Finish that off with an exterior that looks sort of like scaffolding. When I saw it in this state I was thinking "Nah that can't be it. It's not done yet."

 

[bobnjulie]

LOL! When we took the Capitol Corridor train earlier this year, I thought it hadn't been completed yet! It was so ugly! I was hoping that they weren't done yet! Perhaps it's nicer inside but I won't see it. They were talking about the prices and it was $10 for a water and a bag of m&m's. It really was amazing how close it was to the train station.