I'll be riding the Coast Starlight to Portland for the Champ Car race this week and I've noticed that it's been running really late. Now I now that the Starlight usually does run late but we're talking 6 to 15 hours late during the last week. Anyone know what's causing all the delays?
Posted by CoastStarlight99 (Member # 2734) on :
On my last trip, we were 10 hours late...Not usual, but this message has been on the Amtrak page whenever you try to make a Coast Starlight reservation:
Service Alert: Coast Starlight - Possible Train Delays
Delays may occur on this train due to freight railroad congestion, track work or other operating conditions affecting its schedule. Passengers are encouraged to plan for the possibility of a delay and contact Amtrak at www.amtrak.com or 1-800-USA-RAIL on the day of departure to check the train’s status. We apologize for any inconvenience passengers may experience due to these operating conditions.
Posted by mary_228 (Member # 3826) on :
I took the train southbound from Seattle to Emeryville and it left on time but was and hour or two late. People who I met in the parlour car told me that their northbound journey was 12 hours late!
Posted by CoastStarlight99 (Member # 2734) on :
I wonder if that was the same train as mine. 14 got into seattle around 7am!
Posted by Charles802 (Member # 2162) on :
I actually rescheduled my June Coast Starlight trip for August because of the terrible reliability lately (checking on amtrak.com). Good move I guess, because #14 was 8 hours late the day I was supposed to have traveled. Even the LA-Bay Area sector seems to be experiencing delays...is that due to track work as well?
Been lucky in the past...never delayed longer than 2 hrs.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I've been keeping an eye on the Coast Starlight for the last few days and it has not been pretty.
I'm booked to depart Albuquerque tomorrow (6/29) afternoon and connect to #14 at LAX to Portland departing 6/30.
Will let you know how it went when I return home July 8!
David Pressley
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
I'm putting my mother on #14 at Salinas tonight. Tha darn thing hasn't even left LA yet. I'm not hopeful she'll be aboard before 10:00pm, probably later. She's supposed to leave at 6:36, but that won't happen.
Posted by UPNorth (Member # 3944) on :
My. Toy - your crystal ball was amazingly accurate. Coaststarlight arrived SNS at 9:59 on 6/28 and departed at 10:06 pm.
You should patent your Amtrak ETA/ETD formula.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
I didn't note the exact time she boarded, but it was pretty close to 10:00. We arrived at the station at about 9:20, so the wait wasn't too bad.
One item of note, her car was a Superliner I #32019. I asked the attendant if it was one of the refurbished ones, and he said yes. So I asked if I could see the rest rooms, and he let me, but they weren't the new style which I was hoping to see. Pooh.