Day 42, Los Angeles - San Jose
This trip is not to be regarded as a leg on the round the world journey we are making, but rather just an excursion from Los Angeles.
We left with the Amtrak Coast Starlight train, departing at 10:10 from Los Angeles Union Station.
Upper deck seat on the good (ocean) side!
The ticket we purchased is a USA Rail Pass. Having investigated overland ticket options online, we deemed the USA Rail Pass to be a price-worthy option with 8 travel segments to be completed within 15 calendar days. Other pass options are also
available depending on travel needs. For those familiar with Interrail (marketed as Eurail outside Europe) the concept is familiar: by buying this fixed-price pass we can"freely" travel on Amtrak’s train services. The USA Rail Pass has,
however, some clear differences to the European equivalent. To start with, the pass itself is not a ticket and not sufficient for travel - instead, the pass can be used to "buy" 0-dollar coach-class tickets to the trains you wish to travel
with. The tickets can only be bought via phone or in person at stations and it is recommended to do that as soon as possible, when travel plans are confirmed. Pass itself is, however, available on amtrak.com.
Another clear difference to Europe is the infrequency of services - most cities are reachable with Amtrak, but even between large population centres there might only be one train a day. The Atlantic Northeast is an exception with a more "European"
service level. Also worth noting is that the USA Rail Pass is only valid on the US portion of Amtrak’s cross-border services to Canada.
Along the Santa Barbara Channel the railway runs right on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, granting some impressive views to passengers on the left side of the train (travelling north).
Sunset near Salinas.
We arrived in San Jose, the city where sports arenas bear names of applications I use(d) in my work such as SAP and Avaya, approximately 10 minutes after scheduled arrival time of 20:11. Amtrak is unfortunately notorious for its unreliable schedules,
but there is quite a lot of air in them and even quite long delays can be caught up if necessary.
