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I've moved out to Colorado Springs since the last time I posted on this board (probably over two years ago), and am planning a quick weekend trip down to Santa Fe, NM.
My original plan was simply to take greyhound down and back, until I decided to check Amtrak and noticed a very cheep fair of only $43 one way from Lamy, NM (can't book the door to door shuttle in santa fe at all for some strange reason, and have all the connections guaranteed, spent 20 minutes on the phone with a very friendly reservations lady) via Raton, NM on the SW chief and onto the thruway connection back up to Colorado Springs. All faster and cheeper than greyhound (have to take it all the way down though, have stuff until noon on friday.) and an amazing 400 gw points (i assume I get for the 100 per leg min + the double promotion, for a thruway bus as well) under my belt!
My question though is if the SW chief is late will the bus which is simply a connection to greyhound wait for the chief (its only an 8 minute scheduled layover, I realize the connection is guaranteed, but what will happen to me if Amtrak's really late, I need to be back in the springs by 9 friday morning for some important business), and has anyone done this transfer before?
Kiernan Member # 3828
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I used to ride the Southwest Chief and the bus connection between Denver and Lamy quite frequently. The bus is Greyhound (actually, it's TNM&O, a subsidiary) and the run starts in Raton. It may have non-Amtrak passengers on it, but you have a guaranteed connection and seat. If the train is late, the bus is supposed to wait. TNM&O treats the run as one of their normal bus runs. I never had any problem and I made the trip every other weekend for six months.
A couple of years ago I read a post, I think on this board, about someone who was stuck in Raton on a cold night because the train was LATE and the bus had left. I expect that doesn't happen very often. Someone else may have better information.
wayne72145 Member # 4503
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I dont know about the bus waiting for the train but in April I was on the west bound Chief and we waited for the bus in Raton for 50 minutes and still got to LAX on time.
SubwayNut Member # 3948
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Sounds good, I'll be buying my ticket on it (also noticed that there's a middle of the night run if worse comes to worse.)
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