By Muir Avenue Ale
Amtrak has ruined my vacation, and I’m pissed.
For years, Amtrak has sold the California Rail Pass for $159. For the right kind of traveler and the right trip, it’s almost too good to be true. During a 21-day period, you can use the pass for seven days of nearly unlimited travel (four trips per day).
The pass includes these four train lines:
- Pacific Surfliner: San Diego to San Luis Obispo
- Gold Runner (my favorite): Bakersfield to Bay Area
- Capital Corridor: Bay Area
- Coast Starlight: Los Angeles to Dunsmuir
These trains are connected by a bunch of bus routes, which the pass covers. Two of these buses even take you into Nevada (Reno, Las Vegas) for no extra charge.
They all allow free luggage up to two 50-pound bags plus personal item. The kicker for me: three of the four train lines and every bus allow you to BRING YOUR BIKE FOR FREE. On the Coast Starlight, I believe there’s a $10 fee and there may be stations that don’t allow bikes; and that line as well as the Pacific Surfliner require reservations. But all in all, HUGE.
As you can see, the possibilities abound for a neat little vacation. And I had mine all planned out.
I was going to Sacramento to watch my favorite American League baseball team, the A’s. Then to Reno, where I have a friend that was going to join me on a bike ride to Lake Tahoe.
Then to San Francisco to watch the Padres play on my birthday and look up another bike-riding friend. I really fell in love with San Francisco’s vibe during a previous Amtrak vacation.
Then south to Bakersfield, with its thriving and historic Basque community, with whom I made friends during a previous Amtrak visit at the Kern County fair.
Then home to San Diego — with at least one segment leftover on my pass. Hundreds in potential savings.
This was going to be the third year for my “Amtrak vacation,” which I’ve been doing in September because I work at the Del Mar Racetrack, where the season ends on Labor Day. It’s also my birthday month.
Again, it’s not for everyone. The first leg alone takes longer than 12 hours. That’s a hard no for many. But it’s more comfortable than most realize. There’s no middle seat – in fact, more often than not, there’s no one sitting next to you. There’s a surprising amount of leg room. Ample outlets to plug in a laptop – plus free wifi. Much of the route network – most famously the Pacific Surfliner, which hugs the coast – are unbelievably scenic. I’ve even seen people bring their families on the Gold Runner just to experience a particular segment that includes several middle-of-nowhere, charming-as-hell stations.
And don’t forget: no check-in and no walk-through gates, which saves enormous time and hassle. In fact, I’ve shown up at the platform with my bike literally seconds before the train departed without problems.
For some reason you can’t order the pass online (one of Amtrak’s many vagaries) so, with a click in my step, I headed to the counter at the Solana Beach station. To cut to the chase, I found out Amtrak discontinued the pass Aug. 26!
“We didn’t even find out till the day before,” said my favorite employee, a chap who has worked there 20-plus years and helped me book a route to Texas and override a charge when the website wanted to charge me triple for one bike.
Inexplicably, all online references and links to the pass remain.
Amtrak did away with the pass with this abrupt, two-sentence paragraph:
“California’s intercity passenger rail partners are taking the opportunity to reevaluate the California Rail Pass and explore future travel products that provide greater flexibility and value for customers traveling throughout the state. As part of this effort, the current California Rail Pass will no longer be available for new purchases effective August 26, 2026.”
I have no idea what this means. Who are these “rail partners” who only gained this “opportunity . . . to explore future travel products” once the California Rail Pass was eliminated? Why couldn’t they keep the pass until developing a replacement?
Why were they in such a rush to eliminate the pass, with absolutely no advance notice? Without offering any analysis to justify it?
Ask the average American what they think about Amtrak – surely the organization must be aware of its questionable reputation. Yes, there are folks like me who like taking the train, but Amtrak does NOT have the luxury of taking our goodwill for granted. Decisions like this only reinforce the perception that Amtrak is disconnected from the people who actually use and appreciate its services.
I have enjoyed my Amtrak vacations tremendously. I want to continue taking them. I hope Amtrak will give customers like me a reason to feel that our loyalty and enthusiasm are valued.
Perhaps Amtrak can be persuaded to reconsider and restore the pass. I did find this email address for public input: AmtrakBoard@amtrak.com. I’ve urged them to act – and I hope you’ll consider doing the same.
