Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train vs. air, car travel
With Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train set to return to full service next week after more than three months of track troubles, it’s a good time to ask: Is this a decent way to travel from Los Angeles to Seattle and points in between?
The short answer: Not if you’re in a hurry. But cost-wise, it’s often a toss-up between trains, planes and cars. And you can’t beat the scenery and relaxation.
Readers on our message boards are weighing in with comments on the delights, delays and annoyances of taking the Coast Starlight. Here’s my two cents’ worth:
What’s faster: No contest. The once-a-day Coast Starlight runs late about half the time, sometimes by hours. Even on schedule, it takes more than 11 hours to go from Los Angeles to Oakland, where you can catch a bus for a 25-minute ride into San Francisco. Getting to Seattle from L.A. takes more than 34 hours. By car, it’s about six hours from L.A. to San Francisco and 18 hours to Seattle. By nonstop air from L.A., it’s 1 hour, 15 minutes to San Francisco and 2 hours, 30 minutes to Seattle, plus a couple of hours of wait time at the airport.
What’s cheaper: However you go, it costs about the same from L.A. to San Francisco. Coast Starlight: $56 one way. Plane: $48. Car: $48 to gas up, say, a Toyota Camry. From L.A. to Seattle, it’s $92 by train (unless you book a sleeper, which starts at $372 total for two, plus the fare), $90 by plane and $143 by car. (Costs vary,of course, by date and other factors. I based mine on lowest fares for May 17 shown on Kayak.com and southwest.com, Mapquest route searches, average California gas prices and government mileage ratings.)
What’s more fun: The plane? I think not. The car? Depends on whether you like to drive and who’s in there with you. (Kids to Mom: “Are we there yet? Now? NOW?”). But you can stop whenever and wherever you like. Yay! The train? Way more fun than flying, plus you can get up and walk around. The snack food, while edible, is nothing special, I’ve found. But sit-down meals on the Coast Starlight can be quite good.
Next up: Why are Coast Starlight trains so often late? I asked Amtrak and Union Pacific, which owns the tracks, about this, and I’ll give their takes in an upcoming post.
— Jane Engle, Assistant Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
[Photo: Amtrak]
23 Comments on “Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train vs. air, car travel”
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May 1st, 2008 at 10:54 pm
The Coast Starlight is not ideal for all travelers for all trips but it does have an important role in transportation on the West Coast. It offers great scenery, competitive prices, and is an option for many communities without good airline service and for people that don’t wish to be completely dependent on their cars (and $4/gallon gas.)
Anyone who is interested in more information on the Starlight, chatting with others about it, or helping to improve the it should visit the new Coast Starlight Communities Network website. The CSCN is acting now to protect and improve the Coast Starlight and your support can make a difference.
Visit us at:
http://www.coaststarlight.net
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:26 am
Get this train if you want to see some of the most amazing scenery you are ever likely to see in your life. Especially if you’re just visiting California i would recommend this as a way to travel. Just make sure you have a couple of free days and sit back and enjoy traveling the west coast. You really feel like you’re in California when you’re on this train so for that alone i recommend it. It has decent facilities too but most of all you pass through little towns and places you would never see if you traveled any other way.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:01 am
Sad commentary on life in the good old U.S. of A. The train returns to service after three months.
Here in France we have fast (180 m.p.h.), comfortable trains. You can buy delicious sandwiches & drinks at the station to bring aboard, or-horrors, you can even bring a bottle of wine, if you wish. Good luck with the military occupations of dozens of countries.
But, apparently the American people prefer torture & invasions to a good transportation system.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:37 am
Yes, the train can end up marooned on a siding for interminable amounts of time while freights rumble past. But relax…bring a Scrabble board (or a pack of cards, if you’re John Cusak’s character in the Grifters) and make some new friends.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:50 am
On-time performance has dramatically improved as of late. Almost every Coast Starlight train in the past month has arrived at its endpoints on-time or early. Amtrak and UP will probably tell you that UP has recently repaired many slow spots on its tracks over which Amtrak operates, though some remain. Other routine causes of delay tend to include interference from other trains (passenger or freight), or, to a much lesser extent, mechanical issues or passenger incidents. Amtrak does include a significant amount of recovery time (”padding”) in its schedules.
One key to improving service in general is keeping an open dialogue between all the stakeholders of the service, including Amtrak, UP, passengers, and the political and business interests of the communities through which the train operates. To those ends, the CSCN group that Mr. Walker is leading is an important mechanism, one that our organization (the National Association of Railroad Passengers) fully supports and is proud to participate.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:10 am
It isn’t the amount of time it takes to get there or back — like life it is the journey and the things that happen along the way…..and one thing that won’t happen on the coast starlight is a plane crash so I say ride it and enjoy it…
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 am
As an Oregonian who has lived abroad for years, I really looked forward to taking my son on the Coast Starlight. Travelling from Portland to Sacramento was one of my first lone journeys as a teenager - and what a treat it was. My more recent journey from Portland to Albany departed hours late. It still goes a lovely route through the service is nothing like I remember, it is better than any alternatives modes of travel that I can think of. But the return journey a few days later was replaced by a bus service. Very sad and disappointing. Please bring passenger service back!
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:52 am
If you have young kids, flying is not an option and you’ve got an extra day, this is the ideal way to take a family vacation. We brought our own food, a couple of books and some music and let for once, let someone else do the driving. Waking up somewhere in the middle of a forest next to a full stream is something you’ll never get to see driving in a car. I hope they solve the rail-sharing issues with UP but if you stop clock-watching and chill, it’s a great way to go.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
My husband, dog and I drove from the LA region up to Seattle, where he starts work this next week. The drive was great, as it allowed us to stop en route to visit relatives, transport all the paraphenalia of my husband and the dog, and enjoy the sights along the route (Mt Shasta and such). I returned by plane, which was much quicker, but not close in terms of enjoyment.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
I doubt anyone could drive from LA to Seattle safely in 18 hours (it’s 1200 miles), unless Jane Engle meant to say its ANOTHER 18 hours from SF to Seattle.
When I would take the CS years ago, it was only 29 hours from LA to Seattle. Why is it now 5 hours longer?
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
My wife and I have taken the train from Emeryville (near Berkeley) to San Luis Obispo (2x), to Los Angeles (2x), and to San Diego (1x swiching trains in LA)… they have all been wonderful trips, but…
The first couple of trips the food was as good as you’d find in a pretty good restaurant but a few years ago the food went south… The explanation by train personnel was that they stopped fresh cooking on the train and now have prepared meals, although the prices are the same if not a bit more… Hello AMTRAK are you there? Please switch back to good food.
Also changed is that they used to sell a Starlight mug for maybe $5-6 but once you have one you get unlimited refills of coffee or hot cocoa… that’s been canceled… I don’t know how much they saved on that but I know how much good will they lost.
If you have kids the train is a great way to travel, they can move around and they have (or had, maybe that was cut too) a childrens play room.
On the trip you stop in some picturesque stations and pass through Vandenburg AFB on the central coast where you can see the huge missle plaforms (Atlas/Titan?) and on occassion see a missle at the platform… then there’s the coastal views.
Another nice trip is from the Bay Area to Reno passing through the Sierra hills and mountains. We’ve taken it in the spring and winter it is especially nice in the winter. Then rented a car in Reno.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:27 am
I used to take the Starlight from Seattle to L.A. (and back) when I was in college. I always found myself meeting interesting people and enjoying great conversations while sitting in the view car watching the scenery roll by. From the high mountains to the ocean beaches, the variety in scenery can’t be beat. I’d take the train every time if I could.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
This is the good old railroad that has gone out of fashion. Many young folks simply don’t have patience to sit in the train for one and half days to travel 1100 miles which would take no more than approximately 18 hours by car.
I love train, but this type of time delay is prohibitably expensive for my lifestyle. It makes me wonder what is the thinking of these railroad people by insisting on this snail-paced speed of travelling at this age???? I would love to have a job if I get paid for doing this type of lousy job day in and day out. -.-;;;
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:47 am
Amtrak is taxpayer funded INSANITY. I say kill it. If you want scenery, go camping.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
On the east coast, the “northeast corridor” (Boston to Washington, DC), has very good Amtrak service–especially if NYC is an endpoint. The benefit of Amtrak over shuttle flights is that train stations in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and DC are in the city center, and connected to local transit. That convenience, along with the ability to arrive at station just minutes before the train leaves, makes Amtrak an attractive option. The express train, the Acela, is approximately the same cost as a flight. The regional train is about half the price.
Perhaps if Amtrak had a similar business class express service from San Diego to Oakland, people would consider it a first tier option. But they have to get that travel time on par with a shuttle flight + airport wait time + travel to/from airport time.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I only rode it in 99, but I have to agree that it is a great trip, and Pricko, you need to get a reality check, Amtrak fundin’ is dirt cheap compared to what our government spends on the other modes! Be great if they quit demandin’ Amtrak to make a profit, because nothin’ make s aprofit transportation wise!
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Amtrak is the product of corporate controlled government where cars take precedent over mass transportation. Due to ignorance, many people want to blame government for their actions, and though, in the end, there is truth to this, our laws, the laws our congressional “leaders” make, allow for corporate bribery and brown nosing. Mass transit in other countries are a good place to look for an example done right, but until we address the lobbying and election funding laws, not much will change, and the result will be mass transit as a vacation novelty. So the next time you sit in traffic, fill up, or pay or car insurance/repairs, remember to thank a congressperson for doing their job of protecting their institution of royalty.
rm
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:03 am
I don’t agree that you can find an airplane ticket for anything under $150 to Seattle from LA.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 am
This would all be a moot point if Californians vote for high speed rail in November.
LA-SF in 2 and a half hours with no privacy intruding security checks? I don’t know about you but I’m voting yes no matter how badly they are misrepresenting the estimated ticket prices and projected ridership.
Advocates are doing their damndest to kill this project, including the CA HSR authority with their incompetence. But I’ll be damned if California doesn’t need this train.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
The article says that San Francisco to Seattle is an 18 hour drive, much faster than the Coast Starlight which takes nearly 23 hours. The only problem is that few of us can sit in a car for that long and most of us want to stop driving during the night hours because we need to sleep. Add about 10 hours for sleep, meal stops & etc to the car trip and it adds up to more like 28 hours. The train keeps moving while the passengers sleep, or at least get some sort of rest. No argument though, that car trips can be a lot of fun, just leave a lot of extra time for sightseeing, and don’t worry about getting there fast.
June 19th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Wondering if anyone has taken the Coast Starlight from Portland to Olympia and what it was like? Relaxing? I’m thinking about planning an upcoming trip. What about taking an 8-month old baby along? Thanks.
January 24th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
im in the army stationed up in Washington,and im from San Diego,i usually either fly or drive home.i dont have 2 days to waste on a train.
and its not an 18 hour drive from SF to Seattle,its more like 12 hours,its 19 hours from Seattle to San Diego,i drive it regularly too,it can take up to 23 hrs with traffic though
June 7th, 2009 at 1:05 am
The problem of the train getting delayed due to freight trains having the right of way has a very simple solution. Build 2 tracks!!! If you have 2 tracks, and all trains on one track going one way, and all trains on the other track going the other way, nobody has to stop for anybody! With this improvement, track improvements, and ATS (automatic train stop) and PTC (positive train control) technologies installed, the Amtrak could go up to 110 mph the whole way with no stops except at the stations, which are far apart from each other on this long-haul train. Imagine how fast it would be then! I’m thinkin’ LA-SF in 4 hours! YEAH!