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[quote user="daveklepper"] My experiences in this route include the old Coast Daylight with a parlor reservation using the rear seat of the obs that ran as the parlor, but with the automat food serve car serving a chicken enhelada, overal OIK, and overnight from Oakland in a roomette during the period when Amtrak ran an overnight train.     Question 1:   Today, in using Amtrak's Coast Starlight, which I believe is the only train today, what is best?   (1) Using Cal Trans to San  Jose and boarding there?   The Amtrak bus?   BART to the train?  And in the reverse direction? Question 2:   When the limited amounts of high speed money now authorized produce results on the easy segments of the planned high-speed route, will a useful service result, using exisiting connecting tracks?   This includes the commuter track upgrades at SF and LA as well as the "valley" portion of the high-speed line.   Or will the high speed tracks be unused until the  project is completed with a lot more money spent? Question 3:  Right now, with the limited service provided and the distances and time involved, this cannot be called a corridor by any standard.  Will the construction now authorized make it a corridor?   Or will it only become a corridor when the vast additional money is available and used?   With the other thread locked, I will make the point here, that I believe that money for high speed in traffic and airport relieving corridors makes sense.   Money to really speed up long distance service does not make sense to me, because the kiind of market the long distance trains serve is not really all the time dependent.   Reliable service and good acommodations and food are more important. [/quote] I took the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to San Francisco in May.  It was a very nice experience. Make sure to go first class if possible.  That way you get to sample the Pacific Parlor car, which offers an alternative meal option.  Also, I have taken the San Joaquin both ways between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  The San Joaquin is quicker by approximately three hours. Northbound on the Cost Starlight I got off in Oakland and caught the bus to Fisherman's Wharf, which is approximately 1/2 mile from my favorite hotel in San Francisco.  The San Joaquin runs to and from Emeryville, where I catch the bus to Fisherman's Wharf or get dropped off from the Wharf.   Through ticketing on Amtrak irrespective of the train gets you into and out of San Francisco.  The bus picks-up and drops-off at five or seven points.  You can find them on Amtrak's webpage. You could take BART, but there is no need to do so.  And you could catch a cab, which there really is no need to do so. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. I attend the San Francisco Symphony three or four times a year.
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