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seajay

Service Attendant
Joined
Aug 23, 2002
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216
Are route guides currently being provided on the California Zephyr?

ALso, does anyone know why the thruway bus service from the Emeryville, CA station to the San Francisco airport was discontinued?

seajay
 
Seejay,

I can't answer about the route guides, lately though it seems to be hit or miss. Often it depends on the car attendant and whether they want to be bothered to put them out.

As for the Thruway Bus, I'm enclosing the following from Gene Poon, which was posted elsewhere on the net.

SF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT THRUWAY SERVICE ENDS 29APR02
EFFECTIVE MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2002, AMTRAK WILL NO LONGER OFFER

THRUWAY BUS SERVICE BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL

AIRPORT AND TRAINS AT EMERYVILLE. THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR CITED

LIGHT RIDERSHIP AND THE EXTENSION OF BART. THE BAY AREA RAPID

TRANSIT LINE TO THE AIRPORT THIS SUMMER IN THEIR DECISION.

.

AS A RESULT, ALL AMTRAK TICKET SALES TO MILLBRAE MLB AND

THE AIRPORT SFO END 29APR02. PASSENGERS WISHING TO CONNECT

FROM AMTRAK TO THE AIRPORT MAY TAKE THRUWAY BUS SERVICE

TO THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT STOP SFF AND TRANSFER TO A

SFO AIRPORTER BUS AT THE SAME HYATT HOTEL BUS STOP. OTHER

SCHEDULES SKIP SFF, BUT CUSTOMERS MAY GET OFF AT THE FERRY

BUILDING AND WALK TWO BLOCKS TO THE SFF BUS STOP.

CUSTOMERS FOR MILLBRAE MAY TAKE A THRUWAY BUS TO THE CALTRAIN

STATION SFP AND TAKE A TRAIN TO MILLBRAE.
Hope that helps. :)
 
So, you're saying they do at least exist and should be available if I ask for one?

Thanks for the info regarding the thruway service.

seajay
 
To my knowledge, yes they still do exist. However, asking may not do you any good, if the attendant didn't bother to load any on the train. I think that it's their job to get them from supply and put them out. I could be wrong on that though.
 
The Thruway Bus connection between Emeryville and SFO was discontinued due to low (or nonexistant ridership). They used to use one of those van/bus type airport shuttle busses while the regular San Francisco people got a real bus. If you need info on how to get from Emeryville or San Francisco to SFO let me know.
 
tp49, I would be glad to hear what you think is the best way to get from Emeryville to SFO. I've heard horror stories about the airport shuttles and I don't think I want to spend the money for a cab. Does BART go all the way to the airport now? If so, where is the BART station nearest the Emeryville Amtrak station? Thanks!

seajay
 
seajay, the BART extension into SFO is not supposed to open until January, 2003. The nearest BART station to Emeryville is MacArthur (in Oakland) which is reachable via the "Emery go round" bus (free shuttle). The options depend upon how much luggage you are carrying, etc. Your best bet would be to see if you can get an Amtrak bus ticket to San Francisco for the day after you arrive, make sure the ticket is to the CalTrain station. When you get off the bus at CalTrain, buy a CalTrain ticket to Millbrae where you can take a shuttle to SFO.

How much luggage you will be carrying is probably the best way for me to give you a good option.
 
Does anyone know if CalTrain and/or the SFO shuttle from Millbrae will be running on Labor Day?

seajay
 
Caltrain, including the Millbrae airport shuttle which it runs, will be running a "non-weekend holiday" schedule on Labor Day (20 trains compared to the usual 76 on weekdays). You can look up and view the schedules in several different ways at http://transitinfo.org/Caltrain/. That's also the answer to the question about a "point A to point B" information site for the Bay Area - TransitInfo.org is full of useful information and even has a nice trip planner to help figure out regional transit for you.

Another alternative that hasn't been mentioned: Most trains that go to Emeryville also stop at San Jose. San Jose is an easy cross-platform connection to Caltrain - get off the Amtrak, go to the Caltrain platform, buy a ticket, and hop on Caltrain, which will take you to Millbrae, where a shuttle to the airport meets every train. If you are coming from south, this is definitely a better choice than proceeding to Emeryville as that far overshoots the airport on the Peninsula. If you are coming from north (i.e. the Capitol), you may still be better off going to San Jose and coming back on Caltrain because the connection is direct. You're subject to traffic delays and another leg of transportation to get from the Emeryville Amtrak to the San Francisco Caltrain and it will probably end up taking longer than a San Jose transfer would.

Lastly, anyone wishing to know more about the BART extension to SFO, slated to open in January, might want to check out the BART construction status including some nice pictures. As you can tell, it's very close to being done. Only final polishing up work remains before it opens to the public.
 
I'm arriving from the East (a visitor from the East?) on the California Zephyr so San Jose is not an option. Thanks for all that other information. I'll get out to the airport somehow! :lol:

seajay
 
I think that there are bart stations at Ricmond and Berkley that are next to the Amtrak stations. The schedule should indicate which stations these connections are at.
 
mkincaid, tp49 et al:

Thanks for all this information. I've checked out the CalTrain and SFO Shuttle schedules and everything should work out great. I can use the Thruway ticket I have (that was originally purchased for SFO before this service was discontinued) and get to the SF CalTrain station at 4th and King. Then, the schedule works well to get me to Millbrae and to SFO. All this for about 10% of a cab ride and a lot more fun!

:)

seajay
 
There is a direct BART connection at Richmond; however, the CZ does not stop there.

With only a small bag you can take the Emerygoround to MacArthur BART. www.Transitinfo.org has detailed schedules and route maps for this free service provided by the City of Emeryville. www.bart.gov has all you need to know about BART fares and service.

Personally, I think the Amtrak bus to the Caltrain Station in SF is the best bet. My second choice would be to take BART from MacArthur to downtown SF and SamTrans from Transbay to SFO.

SFO's website also has information on ground transportation options to the airport. http://www.san-francisco-sfo.com/transportation.html lists all of the bus options.

The other options are take BART to Daly City or Colma, then switch to SamTrans which operates a bus to SFO. You can also catch a bus to SFO at the Transbay Terminal at 1st and Mission Streets downtown. I would recommend Transitinfo.org to help with the planning as they have a trip planner feature that works quite well.

Hopefully some of this is helpful. :D
 
tp49, do you know the bus schedule from the Emeryville station to the CalTrain station? I looked at the Amtrak website but couldn't find a CalTrain station listing. Remember, this will be on Labor Day and maybe that bus schedule is affected, too??

I'm hoping to get CalTrain #242 which leaves the 4th and King station at 10:00 AM on Sept 2nd. Is there a thruway bus from Emeryville early enough to get me to the CalTrain station by then?

Thanks!

seajay
 
Seajay,

In a nutshell the answer unfortunately is no. I'm looking at my Capitol Corridor schedule and the earliest bus on Labor Day will leave Emeryville at 9:30 AM and is scheduled to arrive at Caltrain at 10:20. I will go down to the Sacramento Depot in a little bit to get a San Joaquin schedule to see if there might be a bus from one of those trains leaving earlier.

I should also note that although the schedule is printed with Caltrain being the last stop, sometimes they will operate two busses one going to the places in the northern area of SF and another going to the southern stops. Also, it is up to the drivers where they stop first as I have taken busses that stop at the Hyatt Financial District first (the first scheduled stop) and busses that stop at the San Francisco Shopping Center first (third scheduled stop). It's a crap shoot.

What you might have to do is take a taxi from the hotel to MacArthur BART in the morning. I will post later to see what I can find with the San Joaquin schedule.
 
I checked the San Joaquin schedule and their first bus leaves at 11AM. I also checked out the schedule for the Emerygoround which will not be going 'round much as there will be no service on Labor Day. I would advise using the trip planner on Transitinfo.org as it is a centralized source of all schedules for the Bay Area.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe there is a Thruway service for the SB Coast Starlight, but the worst you wil have to do is take the bus that gets to SF Caltrain at 10:20 and get off at a stop closer to the Transbay Terminal (Ferry Building or Downtown Hyatt) go there and take SamTrans from there to the airport.

Sorry, I can't be anymore help than that :(
 
tp49, you've been a big help. Thanks for all your time and effort. I'm thinking I might just get a cab to the CalTrain station so I can make sure I catch the 10:00 AM train to Millbrae. That will be basically be just a ride across the bridge so it shouldn't be too bad.

seajay
 
Enjoy your trip out here. I must admit I'm a bit jealous as I have always wanted to take the train across most of the country. Someday when I have the money and time I will do it. :)
 
This is a trip I've been wanting to take for 30+ years. I've traveled on the Zephyr between Ottumwa, Iowa and Chicago many times. I've been on the City of New Orleans, the Capitol Limited, and the Three Rivers. I've never taken the opportunity to go long-distance to the west coast. With all of Amtrak's problems and uncertainty, I figured I'd better get it done soon!

I'll admit, I'm like a little kid being as anxious as I am about this trip. I hope there aren't too many little problems and no big ones. I'm not expecting things to be perfect, especially regarding on-time status, but that's not why I'm going. I have a friend from work who is taking the Empire Builder with her family from La Crosse, Wisconsin out to Seattle a few days after my trip. They're going coach. I think that's too far for me to go without a bedroom. This will be their first train trip of any kind so I hope things go smoothly for them, too.

seajay
 
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