TiBike
OBS Chief
It's been about a year since I booked a trip from Reno to San Jose on the California Zephyr. Tried it today, and found that I can't get a guaranteed connection to the Capitol Corridor until 7:20 pm. I used to be able to book a through connection on the 5:15 pm Capitol Corridor weekday departure from Emeryville. The CZ arrives at 4:10 pm, in theory, but I guess they've given up on keeping to a schedule. It's an easy fix – the price is the same whether I book a through connection or two separate tickets. For that matter, I could have booked the later connection and just gotten on the 5:15, but I might as well wait until I have a rough idea of the Zephyr's ETA first.
It was an important connection for me (when it worked, which is another problem) because it could get me to Salinas and the Monterey Peninsula on the same day. I can work around it, but Amtrak is basically telling CZ passengers there's nothing past Emeryville except a late ride to San Jose. Otherwise, it's "here be dragons".
I originally tried booking from San Jose to Reno on a Sunday, and I can't do that any more. The connection from the Capitol Corridor to the Zephyr was tight (and not guaranteed), but worth risking, since there's a thruway as a back up. The Capitol Corridor schedule was shifted though, and now it misses the CZ by 15 minutes. It just seems like there's no coordination between the two routes.
It was an important connection for me (when it worked, which is another problem) because it could get me to Salinas and the Monterey Peninsula on the same day. I can work around it, but Amtrak is basically telling CZ passengers there's nothing past Emeryville except a late ride to San Jose. Otherwise, it's "here be dragons".
I originally tried booking from San Jose to Reno on a Sunday, and I can't do that any more. The connection from the Capitol Corridor to the Zephyr was tight (and not guaranteed), but worth risking, since there's a thruway as a back up. The Capitol Corridor schedule was shifted though, and now it misses the CZ by 15 minutes. It just seems like there's no coordination between the two routes.