i rlly want to hang out with a friend who lives in fresno. i live close to sf. i saw that the time has changed for gold runner, i like taking the 4pm train back home, but arrival time now is 12:30ish and if its delayed could push to 1pm, wouldn’t have much time to do more.
is it a bad idea to go from richmond to sac.. and then sac to fresno? i would get to fresno 10-11am that way. EDIT; i wouldn’t make it in time to take the 7:09am from sac.
ugh why is it hard to go to the CV in 2025
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Starting January 5 (according to the booking system - start date still hasn't been officially announced) there should be a San Jose-Merced bus twice a day, and the first eastbound bus leaves SJ at 6:20 to connect with the first southbound Gold Runner. Unfortunately that's a very tight connection from the first weekday Caltrain, which arrives at 6:12...
Before covid there was an SF-Stockton bus that connected with the trains to/from Sacramento, so all 7 trips had an SF connection.
Edit: lol this article from the 24th says they announced it in a Facebook post on the 22nd. Nothing on their own fucking website, because why would there be.
ugh!!! i swear there should be better ways to go to the CV from the bay area and vice versa ?!? why is it so damn complicated
If you want the maximum day trip, wouldn't the 6 p.m. departure from Fresno be the best option aside from getting back to San Francisco at 10:30 p.m.? You would get 5.5 hours in Fresno instead of 3.5 hours with the 4 p.m. return departure.
SFC - FNO
7 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.
FNO - SFC
6 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
that’s what i was first looking at but i get so scared for last departures bc what if it’s late or gets cancelled!
Going back 6 months on https://juckins.net, the 6 p.m. train was delayed an average of 22 minutes and was never canceled in that timeframe. The median delay was 6 minutes.
By comparison, the 4 p.m. departure had an average delay of 17 minutes but that trip is one that can get canceled for track work or equipment repair (as it happened in September).
I guess it's OK to be cautious, but Amtrak California services usually do their best to work with passengers in case of delay or cancellation unless things are totally borked (in my experience). There is now another train after the 6 p.m. — the 8 p.m. to Sacramento.
Should the 6 p.m. train get canceled, it's possible that they would board passengers on the 8 p.m. train and then transfer to a bus at Stockton. That's only speculation though.
I can't guarantee anything, but I think the 6 p.m. departure is your best bet and maximizes your time.