Amtrak restores some Coast Starlight service
Amtrak continues to restore more of its Coast Starlight route, which normally runs between Los Angeles and Seattle, after shutting it down because of a Jan. 19 mudslide that still covers Union Pacific tracks in western Oregon.
On Feb. 6, Amtrak restored Coast Starlight rail service between Los Angeles and Sacramento. Tuesday afternoon, officials said they will provide coach (bus) service between Sacramento and Portland, Ore., starting Feb. 29. From Portland, riders can connect with the Cascades rail line to Seattle and Vancouver, Canada, or take the Empire Builder to Chicago, said Vernae Graham, Amtrak’s Oakland-based spokeswoman.
Only coach-class rail service is available, so forget about sleeping cars. Formal dining service is suspended; food will be served in a lounge car.
As for when the full route and service will be restored, that’s anyone’s guess. Amtrak officials don’t expect it to happen before April — the mudslide is massive. So far, workers have removed more than 800 carloads of logs and dirt, but more remains to be done, said Union Pacific spokeswoman Zoe Richmond.
—Jane Engle, Assistant Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
[Photo: Amtrak]
19 Comments on “Amtrak restores some Coast Starlight service”
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February 19th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
That’s a good start. They have one full Starlight
Set up in Seattle, still waiting to be put to use.
The Empire Builder(# 7 & # 8) still run with 2 to 3 locomotives between Chicago and
Seattle. One engine and 4 cars run between Spokane & Seattle, and each set is
added to or taken off the Seattle section at Spokane.
I wonder if Amtrak will try to add a coach only section between Portalnd and Seattle
later on.
Mike Gitlin,
Seattle, WA.
Medically retired railfan
due to kidney disease
February 20th, 2008 at 12:31 am
They ought to shut down the whole Amtrak farce…high prices for lousy service and shoddy food! Really puts a bad face on America when foreigners who are familiar with really good train service elsewhere are taken for a ride on the “train from hell”. That’s what we get for bailing them out with over $1 billion of our tax dollars each year.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:27 am
So if Arnold Sutter doesn’t like Amtrak, he could always move to Europe. Having taken the trip from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to San Luis Obispo, CA several times including one three weeks ago, we met many on board for their first trip and heard practically nothing but praise for the service, especially the on board service. Not so much for the food but hardly shoddy. Can’t beat the scenery, something that beats flying all to hell.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:55 am
I’m glad to see the service restored. America needs passenger rail and more of it. With the high gas prices, airport congestion and even more problems with our highways trains provides a great alternative to the auto or airplane.
Keep the trains rolling down the tracks.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:11 am
A. Sutter’s comment is probably too accurate. A couple years back I had planned on a great little trip to Hearst Castle with a Amtrak trip from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, (sleeper car) and back to SLO. After purchasing tickets a month in advance, I was notified the 3rd weeek that the route was being changed,(as work was scheduled in the area). We would now be ‘forced’ to take the return trip from San Diego via bus inland to Bakersfield, (with a delay) transfer by bus back over to SLO. Since this was half the trip planned, and Amtrak offered no partial refund, (only the pleasure of a miserable long bus ride) I cancelled the trip. Because of this I was also insulted with the ‘cancellation fee’ by Amtrak. As someone once said: “is that any way to run a railway”?
As a young man in the 1950s, I still was able to enjoy many rail trips, (before it turned to horrible service). Too bad for younger generations that will miss out on a wonderful part of travel history.
A enjoyable rail trip is being able to cross country on a train, (with no bus transfers) required.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:18 am
If they’re going to run busses north from Sacramento they ought also to have one running during the day to connect with Cascades service at Eugene. Overnight on a bus is extremely uncomfortable unless each passenger is alloted two of the cramped undersized bus seats. Any rest at all is nearly impossible for a normal sized adult.
The coach only Starlight, LA to Sacramento is a bad idea, premium fares for day travel on the sleeping car would attract a lot of much needed revenue.
Previous posters are a bit too negative on trains. Invest some serious money in them and they will be a huge asset to the country.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:02 am
I’ve had too many bad experiences on planes - bad weather, canceled flights, horribly high rates, interminable waits in airports, etc. So, since I - and many others - have had bad experiences with air travel, let’s just shut the whole air system down. Make everyone travel by train or car.
Then again, I’ve been stuck in horrible traffic jams, endless construction zones, and way too many people are killed in auto accidents each year. Maybe we should close all the roads too, and everyone should just travel by train.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:20 pm
If Arnold doesn’t like the billion $ a year for Amtrak, what about the 10s of billions we gave to the airlines after Sept 11 - so they could declare bankruptcy, eliminate worker pensions, and give the executives bonuses for “saving” the company?
And we spend orders of magnitude more on highways (far more than is collected in gas taxes) every year.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:43 pm
My wife and I are UK residents who have now made four amtrak cross-country trips, all extremely enjoyable. We do not travel by train in Britain because costs are prohibitive. We have been 30 minutes late into Chicago from NY; 40 minutes into Emeryville from Chicago, 35 minutes early into Seattle from Chicago. No complaints there. As sleeper travellers our meals are included and are more than adequate even under SDS. But the food on the Zephyr in 2005 was very good and on the Empire Builder last year superb. And what a way to see your magnificent country. No railway company in the world runs without government subsidy. How much subsidy, both direct and indirect do the roads and airlines receive in the US? Most of the people we have encountered on Amtrak both from outwith the US and within have been pleased with the service, apart from punctuality, and that, the east coast corridor excepted,is not under Amtrak’s control. It is a much more relaxed, human, low-key way and environmentally way to travel. Savour your railway system!
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 am
Don: I also had a horrible experience on the Coast Starlight due to their retention of abusive and apathetic employees, and will never ride Amtrak again. (Google for “final trip on amtrak”).
And what a coincidence! I *do* now live in Europe, and the trains are fantastic. Even the slowest trains I’ve been on are 2-3 times the speed of Amtrak, and often punctual to the minute.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
I have traveled on the Coast Starlight several times and always enjoy it. I was booked in for another overnight trip on the Starlight March 6th but now I have to fly, which is something I loath and detest. Amtrak isn’t perfect and I long for the day we have rail service as good as that in Japan, but for now I just wish they’d get that mudslide cleaned up pronto! I want to travel in the re-launched Starlight.
February 27th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Here is an update I just read from Union Pacific’s web page– The site says that the slide is going to take about four to six weeks to remove and then restore the tracks. Living by the area, and having drove past the land slide area myself, I can tell you that they are making progress though. In the Oakridge yard (the closest town to the slide) there is a HUGE pile of downed trees and new rail ties for the track… And in Eugene, they have been loading about twelve to fourteen ballast cars with large boulders and smaller rock to kinda stabilize the hill to prevent other slides from occouring in the future.
If you go from the update that was listed here, then 800 truckloads is a drop in the pan, cause the UP website states that there is over 153,000 truckloads of mud and debres on the rails alone at the moment.
Be patient, theyre workin on it, I promise you!
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I rode on the “Coast Starlight” Amtrak last Fall to go from Santa Barbara to Portland and it was very nice. It was a long ride (26 - 2 hours late which any Internet research prepares you for) but very civilized. There was a wine tasting, the dinners were OK (I ate one dinner and brought a small cooler with the rest of my meals), and even in coach the seats had footrests and reclined nicely. The scenery from the observation car was outstanding, and the conductors were fine, thoughtful and helpful (one of them was pretty no nonsense, but as long as you weren’t breaking rules or bothering your neighbors you had nothing to fear). I met some nice people, and would take it again. I have ridden on European trains extensively, and the Amtrak Train I rode on was far nicer and more comfortable than most of them.
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I am sad about the slide-I have a 4 year old I would like to take on the train to visit her Granny for Easter (we’ve taken the train before and it’s much more affordable than the plane and much better than driving), but I can’t imagine moving her and all of our stuff off the train and onto a bus in the middle of the night. Oh well, maybe next summer….
March 7th, 2008 at 6:48 am
I hope the track will be open in July. I will be taking the Zepher from Ne. to Sac. and then the Coast Starlight to Seattle. Also hop the lay over in Sac. to be long enough if the Cal. Zepher is late.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
[...] For those of you considering taking the Coast Starlight train along the West Coast up to Spokane, the LA Times Travel has provided an update on service on this line - sounds like it has been a little sketchy of late. [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 4:09 am
WE are booked to travel on the coast starlight from San Francisco to Seattle on 8 June. We have read about the mudslides, but can find no recent updates as to when the line will re-open. Can you help with updated info or do I have to make other arrangements?????
August 17th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I read Sutter’s comments on Amtrak… shutting it down doesn’t solve anything but simply puts more people on our already overcrowded highways. Instead, let’s pump more money into a system that can serve this country very well. I have travel the Empire Builder, the Southwest Chief, the Panama Limited and all provided me with excellent service, good food and on-time arrrivals. Airlines provide no service, planes are dirty, seating is cramped and not comfortable and sometimes they run according to their published schedules.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:00 am
It’s a silly idea, but one idea can spawn another. Replace Amtrak with Amtube. Basically an airplane passenger body (minus the wings and wheels) that fits inside of a tube. It “floats” resistance free inside the tube using magnetic levitation. Air pressure behind the passenger tube, and air suction in front of the passenger tube, propels it forward at a very high rate of speed. OK no view and no train nostalga. but also no noise to annoy communities that it passes through, no weather concerns, no way to run into anything, and like Superman, it could be almost as fast as a speeding bullet, faster in fact than a bullet train. Think of it like the air tubes they use in Costco to send money from the registers to the cash room. Except bigger, comfortable, fast. What about cost? I have no idea.