Good Job Amtrak

Lest one think all we do is complain on this blog, I thought it only fair to point out some positive news. The 784 has been on time pretty much the last couple of weeks. (I hope this doesn't jinx it). This photo shows the train flying into the Irvine station at 6:09 pm.today.

And another thing to appreciate - as gas rapidly approaches $5/gallon, Surfliner tickets have not gone up one cent. With any luck Amtrak corporate won't have time to react before fuel prices start going down again.

How Will Amtrak Be Impacted By A Government Shutdown?

With all of the news floating around about the potential for a federal government shutdown, a question came to mind. How will Amtrak be impacted by a government shutdown?

Although Amtrak receives significant government subsidies, the expectation based on a brief article in the USA Today is that the system will continue to operate as normal with ticket revenue providing adequate operating cash flow for a short period of time.

Good news for commuters who want to get to work, but you may want to share this information selectively if you plan on using the shutdown as an excuse to "work" from home.

Where's Amtrak

We have had an unfortunate string of late trains on the Surfliner recently. It seems like the train is late more often than not and the list of reasons given is long. Late departure in the morning because the crew slept in, late arrival in morning because of an accident up the line. And to make it even more fun, the train is occasionally, albeit rarely, early! Regardless of the reason on any particular day, these incidents provide opportunities to tell jokes, catch up with friends, and above all complain.

Waiting for the 784 in Los Angeles

The network of regular riders often does a better job of updating each other than the folks at Amtrak do. Texts, emails, and calls go out to riders up and down the line to warn of delays, and to determine how long a delay is likely to be (Amtrak's default reply is that the train will be there in 5 minutes). Alternatives are discussed (carpooling, taking Metrolink, going to Trax) and plans are made. We all eventually make it home safe to try again the next day.

In order to share these updates with the larger group, I have set up a Twitter account under the Rail_Tweet username and will post the status of my trains whenever we are running off schedule. The most recent tweets will also be displayed on the top of the blog homepage. Hope this helps people plan and feel free to send Rail_Tweet your updates as well. Working together is how we will win.

Ponto Station - Why the 784 is usually late.

According to Amtrak's official schedule the 784 arrives in Solana Beach at 7:13pm. This rarely happens. One of the things that prevents this is the lack of a double-track along the entire system.

In some cases one train will have to wait for another to pass before proceeding to single track. The 784 has a special place to stop in between the stops of Oceanside and Solana Beach.

There is a strange dead zone of the Carlsbad coast inhabited by a defunct self-storage site called Ponto Storage. I extracted the Google map and satellite photo to give a feel for this odd locale. I'll try to get some views from the train later next week. The place is truly worthy of a Steven King setting.


On average I think we wait here an extra  ten minutes about four times a week. One idea would be just to incorporate the stop and call it Ponto Station. Perhaps the California High Speed Rail project would be interested.

Express Service

Much marketing is going into the new "express" service (stops below). Strange thing is that it is only one train in one direction. I would rather get home 20 minutes early, so why not run an evening express train south? In any event, I expect this to be a short experiment as the coordination among the Coaster, Amtrak, and Metrolink is poor at best.

What Were They Thinking?

Change isn't always good, and Amtrak recently instituted a couple of major changes to its Pacific Surfliner service that will have nothing but a negative impact to the commuters using its service.

The first and most publicized change is the new "express" train service from San Diego to Los Angeles. The second train (563) north out of San Diego each morning will now be an express train skipping several of the previous stops along the route. It will no longer serve San Juan, Santa Ana, or Fullerton. This will save an entire 15 minutes from SD to LA. That assumes the train is on time, which it never is...

Second, and most resentful, they are changing the menu in the Sea View Cafe. This is more than your standard increase in prices, they are cutting out two items critical to the well being of several of the "regular" commuters. No longer will they serve Courvoisier (sure to force a certain regular onto the Metrolink), nor will they carry the best food served on the rails. Posted below is a picture of the last Jalapeño Burger. Shortly after this picture was taken it was cut into 4th's and shared with a tear in the eye...

The last Jalapeno Burger