posted
Great news!!! Has anyone heard why the relaunch has been delayed the extra month? I've heard several theories....
- Jarrod
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From http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/?p=1804 ... Starting next week, you’ll be able to ride Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train along its full route between Los Angeles and Seattle for the first time in more than three months, the company said this afternoon.
Amtrak stopped running the popular long-distance train in January after massive mudslides buried Union Pacific tracks near the small town of Oakridge in western Oregon. It later restored portions of the route, using buses and other trains to end-run the slide. Union Pacific has since cleared the tracks, said Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham in Oakland.
The first train to run the full Coast Starlight route will leave Union Station in downtown Los Angeles May 6, Graham said. “We’ve been told we’ll be able to go at full speed,” she told me. “They should be on their regular schedules.”
Graham didn’t have an immediate estimate of Amtrak’s losses from the prolonged shutdown, which affected thousands of passengers. But there is light at the end of the tunnel: The company still plans to upgrade the Coast Starlight, adding flat-screen TVs to refurbished parlor cars and new arcade cars with video games, plus start full meal service at seats for coach passengers.
The rollout of the upgrade will start in late May, followed by the official launch on June 10, Graham said.
— Jane Engle, Assistant Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
Posts: 82 | From: San Lorenzo, CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Well, I don't know if my information is helpful or not, but I'll just throw it out there anyway. I talked with a couple of Coast Starlight Customer Service Managers in Los Angeles last week, and they told me that the relaunch could be "anytime" over roughly the next 3 months.
Vernae Graham is a spokesperson for Amtrak, and she is only allowed to speak the words that she is told to speak. This is just my opinion, but Amtrak has never impressed me as being on-the-ball when providing information. Usually, the left hand has no clue what the right hand is doing. So in my own personal opinion (and it is just an opinion---nothing else), I would take the June 10th date with a grain of salt until some other source backs up that date. I will still not buy my ticket on the relaunched train until I know that it will actually happen.
However, I'm VERY happy that the train will be running the full route in a few days! Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
Considering the current rolling stock situation, I'd be willing to bet the video arcade will not be a car of its own. My guess is that it will be located lower level of the lounge car. Most of those patrons take their food back upstairs anyway. It makes sense to me. How ironic would it be if the video game was FlightSim? You put 50 cents in and the game tells you to put in another nickel for this fee...then another dime for that fee...and another nickel for this fee....LOL
Posts: 387 | From: Bakersfield, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
The arcade "car" is actually what is replacing the Kiddie Car section in the Coach Cars. They are not new cars... It's misleading how they keep stating that.
Posts: 82 | From: San Lorenzo, CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by yukon11: With the link Jarrod posted....
1. If it re-launches in May, I guess we will have to wait a month for the "refurbished" parlor car?
2. With regard to the new video arcade room...do you think that will be adjacent to the snack bar, or an entirely new car for video games?
Richard
Nope. The article does not say it is relaunching in May. The full route will be restored in a few days, but not the relaunch. I think you're mixing up the two different things. The relaunch was planned way before the service interruption (due to the mudslide) in January.
The arcade room is sorta cheesy. I saw it in-person for the first time last week. It's been around for about a year now. I think they just tried one car (the former Kiddie Coach area on the lower level). There were four video games, and one token machine (the games take tokens only---no cash). There is a sign CLEARLY telling people not to bother the Amtrak employees with token requests, broken games, malfunctioning games, or malfunctioning token machine----call a phone number instead. Can you imagine something electronic breaking on Amtrak during a trip?? Hah......um, yeah....riiiiiiiight. And then you go to an Amtrak employee who tells you, "Not in my job description--did you read the darn sign????". I just can't see this video game thing working out. Vandalism and unreliability come to mind. A buddy told me that when he was on the train that has the video games, people went downstairs and unplugged them from the outlets so that they could charger their iPods, phones, and computers since Amtrak is lacking in this area.
Can you tell I'm a bit miffed at the idea of video games taking up space down there?? The Kiddie Car seemed good to me----just keep the TV's in there, playing a big loop of cartoons and kid shows to keep the crumb-crunchers entertained and to stop them from running up and down the aisles, since many parents don't seem to comprehend the idea of something like that.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
Very good news about the full route being restored next week. Still hoping there will be a Parlour Car on our train leaving LAX on May 28 for Portland. We did get to ride in one on our trip from SAC to LAX last January 8 so that memory may have to suffice. Only half a dozen souls in the car during most of the route except for the wine and cheese tasting. Im sure there will be a full house for this summer trip. Thanks for the report Jarrod
Posts: 87 | From: Ohio | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
I am not thrilled about the arcade cars either. There's other cool things they could do with those cars. Stupid.
Posts: 82 | From: San Lorenzo, CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Yes, that is indeed good news about the resumption of service!!!! Funny, but if you zoom in on the Map Quest map in the Miami article (from Jarrod's post), the "pin" ends up about a mile north of where the slide actually is (the pin is at a location N of the highway -- the slide was S of the highway!)
I agree with Smitty's take on the video arcade room -- not a good idea.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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