Would like to take the Friday afternoon train from Santa Barbara to union statioin (LAX) to catch a train that leaves at 8:00 PM to Arizona. The Santa Barbara train is schedueled to arrive at 7:10 pm at LAX my other train leaves at 8:00PM to Arizona. Is that enough time between trains to make sure I don't miss my 8:00 Pm train?
super B, thank you for your post. Many on this forum might think it's a great decision, to take the train to Arizona.
If you put on your endpoints (say SBA-TUC) on the regular screen and it gives that routing, the connection is guaranteed despite that fact that connections of less than 60 minutes are usually not.
That's the way it appears on Amtrak.com - the 790 Pacific Surfliner, then the 422 Texas Eagle or 2 Sunset Limited. Not as a multi-city, just as a regular booking Santa Barbara - Arizona. So then it should be "guaranteed".
Hi, if you go to
this link on the ASMAD, you can see the "connection history" for arriving train #790 and departing train #2 at LAX for the past 2 months. (Please note I have double-departures in the 2nd column and it's a bug I will fix.)
That is a very helpful website. Thank you for the link. The history of the 790 arriving at LAX looks very promising for the 31 results found, regarding the connection.
Out of the 31 arrivals displayed for the 790, there is one at 8:05, one at 7:49, one at 7:44 and one at 7:38. All others are at 7:32 or earlier, and at least 16 out of the 31 were 7:11 or earlier, so basically on time. Since the 790 just begins in San Luis Obispo, and it's the Coast Starlight that can accumulate hours of a delay during its long run, chances seem quite good one can make that connection, especially if in 30 out of 31 cases in the past, the Surfliner arrived at least 11 minutes before the train bound for Arizona would have left.
Now the only issue would be what happened in the case that the Surfliner arrives at 8:05, or otherwise too late to make the connection. In other countries, there are right passenger rights, so it's a legal requirement for the rail operator to arrange free alternative transportation, or a free accommodation in case there is an overnight stay involved, and of course compensation for the delay, f.e. 25% of the ticket price for a delay of 1 hour or more, and 50% of the ticket price for a delay of 2 hours or more.
It's obvious there will be no refunds with Amtrak because of a delay, still I guess it's interesting to see what other services a traveler can expect in case of a missed connection.
Here is the paragraph from the Amtrak website:
Connecting TrainsAmtrak does not normally guarantee connections of less than 60 minutes (90 minutes between arriving long-distance trains and local trains in the Northeast Corridor). Please call Amtrak 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) or your travel agent if your planned itinerary includes a shorter connection. A guaranteed connection does not ensure that such a connection will always be made. In the case of a missed guaranteed connection, Amtrak will provide alternate transportation on Amtrak, another carrier, or overnight hotel accommodations, at Amtrak's discretion.
source:
http://www.amtrak.com/getting-oriented-at-the-station
So this particular connection from Santa Barbara to Arizona would need a call to Amtrak in the first place, as the connection time is less than 60 minutes.
And then, in case of a missed connection, it is "Amtrak will provide alternate transportation on Amtrak, another carrier, or overnight hotel accommodations, at Amtrak's discretion". So alternate transportation on Amtrak would not be very attractive, as the next train to Arizona leaves two days later. Guess it would be worth it to call Amtrak...
