[pct-l] Ashland available through Amtrak

[Bob Bankhead]

Interesting. Apparently, Amtrak doesn't publicize this service.

On the Amtrak website, STATIONS does show the Ashland (AHL) bus stop at the Safeway on Siskiyou Blvd. So why then do those buses not appear on the Amtrak website when making reservations?   Portland OR to Ashland OR keeps returning a message "Problem Finding Service: Sorry, we cannot find train service matching your request. Please try alternate stations/cities." 

I know Amtrak also runs daily bus service between the train stations in Eugene OR and Portland OR as my kids have ridden that to the university.


An internet search ("Amtrak bus" and Ashland) found these articles from local newspapers:

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0419/local/stories/amtrak.htm

$45 fare. Leave Medford Transit Center on Front Street between Tenth and Eighth streets at 8:10 a.m. and depart Ashland's Safeway lot at 8:35 a.m., arriving at the Sacramento station at 3:55 p.m. - in time to connect to trains going down the San Joaquin Valley to Los Angeles or to Oakland with connections to San Jose and San Francisco. Also details bus services between Klamath Falls Amtrak station and Ashland & Medford OR.


http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2006/06/12/daily16.html?surround=lfn



I've seen buses listed on some route schedules between Bakersfield and Sacramento before, but even now, these buses do not appear on the Amtrak website. One can only assume that if the buses go north into Oregon, you should be able to ride them south as well, assuming you're connecting to an Amtrak train at the end.



Bottom line - I guess you have to physically go to an Amtrak station and hope they know something about the buses to help you make your reservations.



Wandering Bob




  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sandra Smith 
  To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 11:08 PM
  Subject: [pct-l] Ashland available through Amtrak


  You can now go to Ashland as well as Medford, OR, on an Amtrak bus  
  (very nice buses, much nicer than Greyhound's!) as part of your  
  Amtrak train ticket (service only available to train riders).  Yes,  
  Coast Starlight is never on time (I was 7 hrs late in each direction  
  San Diego to Seattle last month) but it is a relaxing way to travel,  
  has plenty of space for backpacks, and you can bring your own food.   
  The connecting buses meet the train, no matter how late.....just  
  figure in the lateness as part of the schedule.  (If you call the  
  local stations, they can tell you about how late it's been  
  running....it's due to the freight company that owns the tracks in  
  this area....the Cascades and other Amtrak trains are usually on time.)

  In fact, you can also get a surprising variety of places on this  
  train-bus combination system;  we just hiked part of the California  
  Coast Trail (consolation hike because the Sierras were so deep in  
  snow in June) by taking a combination of trains, Amtrak buses, and  
  the Redwood line from Martinez to Crescent City, and last year I used  
  in a couple of times at each end of the Oregon PCT.

  Sandy from the Olympic Mts.