The management company at LAUPT has building security on premises 24/7, and most of their staff are pretty good at keeping the local indigents out of the building. They check people sleeping in the seats for Amtrak tickets, and if you can't produce a stub for today's travel, or a ticket for tomorrow's, you're asked to leave the building.
The Amtrak ticket office is open 24 hours, except for 2 20-minute periods when the buses come in, 2.45a and somewhere around 4a, and there is a seating area near the ticket office, next to the arrival/departure board.
You'll start seeing commuters arriving around 5am, and that'll continue for several hours.
Be mindful of your surroundings, and be aware of who's nearby. Good advice for any situation, but particularly appropriate for yours.
Keep in mind that if your bus/768 combination is tardy, that 14 makes the same stops at VNC, SIM, OXN, and SBA. That being said, 768 has a pretty good OTP overall.
(I've been in LAUPT at all hours of day and night, and have always felt quite comfortable doing what I've needed to do. I'm sure my uniform and demeanor have a lot to do with it, but I've never been approached by any unsavory characters.)
Travel light!
~BJG
I will be taking the Coast Starlight from LAX to PDX where Im switching to the Empire Builder--however I need to get to LAX first from EMY---The Coast Starlight leaves LAX 10:15 AM.
The 2 options that fit my schedule is a train/bus combo that arrives at 2:45 AM and a Bus/train combo that arrives at 9:25 AM--which I feel is cutting it a bit close--but Im also hesitant to sit in LA station in the wee hours of the AM. . .