Sunset Ltd is supposed to arrive in Palm Springs shortly after 5PM but I've been watching arrivals and departures and it seems to be late a lot. The Palm Springs station isn't even a station, just a parking lot. What's a person to do? If we're driving to Palm Springs from 2 hours away, should we find a better departure station? Is it better to leave from Los Angeles? How about Yuma? We are not the kind of people who can sit in a car and wait 3-5 hours in a desert parking lot. What's the parking like in Los Angeles? Anyone have any suggestions?We are not especially anxious to travel through Los Angeles traffic to get to Union Station but might have to, in order to avoid getting stuck waiting in the desert of Palm Springs. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by gp35 (Member # 3971) on :
What are you talking about? Stationless stops are the in thing. Amtrak had our station torn down. We could now drive our cars to the train and get aboard without touching the ground. Who says Amtrak has no vision.
Seriously, I wonder if Amtrak knows this curb side situation is a terrorist dream come true.
Posted by chile2 (Member # 3110) on :
Kitty--- we just returned from the SL LA to El Paso yesterday. Onboard they had announced that we could expect delays of up to 4 hours from LA to Palm Springs due to congestion. Lots of "sitting and waiting" was how they put it. Evidently this slow crawl out of LA is pretty common. Well, somehow we lucked out and we were only about 1 hour behind by the time we got to Palm Springs. One could even sense the crew's optimism that we were doing so well. We hopped off briefly at Palm Springs and was incredibly hot and I didn't have time to note whether there was shade, etc. Yuma station stop would be at night time; at least the sun wouldn't be shining. Ontario might be an option; at least it's not the desert heat. Prepare to wait, as this LA to Palm Springs might turn out to be the crawl they warned us about. Otherwise, the train was good with upbeat staff and friendly passengers. Maybe someone else can fill you in on the details of Yuma station and Ontario station and their parking, and waiting facilities such as they are-- shade, etc.?
Posted by Kitty (Member # 3987) on :
Thank you Chile. Your comments were very helpful.Did you park at LA? Was wondering about driving there and parking. Thanks again!
Posted by chile2 (Member # 3110) on :
No, we didn't have to park as we were coming in from the Coast Starlight, then continuing on the Sunset Limited to El Paso a few days later. My nephew picked us up, so a car wasn't part of the equation. If you do a search on the Amtrak forum (see link at the top of the webpage) and put in "Los Angeles parking" a few things come up. It sounds like L.A. Union Station will cost some for long term parking, as do most downtown parking lots. I don't see anything in the archives about parking in Ontario, Pomona or Yuma though, right off. It might be worthwhile to repost a new question with the topic more specific to the parking dilemma at these stations.
Will you be checking baggage? If not, then any station between L.A. and Palm Springs is a possibility. Another thought might be to see if there is any parking at hotels in Palm Springs where you could leave your car; something hotels will do especially during the slow season. They might even throw in a shuttle (or at the worst, you call a cab) to the train station. That way you could be near an air conditioner and keep checking with "Julie" on the arrival time. Or check into the same at a motel in the other towns? Another idea might be to check out a one way car rental from a point or town convenient to you, with drop off at downtown L.A., then do the same on return...
Posted by purrzz70 (Member # 4002) on :
Regarding parking!!! I work at the station and the best bet for everyone is to get parking at the MTA (bus) building. The parking is just off of Vignes and Cesar Chavez streets. There is long term parking (up to 14 days...talk to attendant if longer then 7 days so they can keep an eye on it for you...they are that good). The fee is good for Los Angeles $6.00 daily.
Union Station/ Gateway Transit Station 810 N. Vignes Street Los Angeles 90012-2952 [$] 1,500 spaces