We have tickets to travel Amtrak from Orange County to San Francisco 09/15 (Monday). This trip is not a leisure trip but an appointment that we positively, absolutely MUST be at and CANNOT be canceled. After the Metrolink accident, I heard an announcement on the radio that Amtrak travel would be affected on Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight. So I called Amtrak this morning to inquire.

As of today, 09/14, Amtrak projects that by tomorrow, the Metrolink accident will still affect travel on the tracks they share. The Coast Starlight will originate and terminate in Santa Barbara, instead of going further south. I asked what they intended to do to accommodate our travel needs to Santa Barbara. For passengers yesterday, 09/13, there was no accommodation. There just simply was no travel on these routes. For passengers today, 09/14, Amtrak was planning to use motorcoaches to drive passengers from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Amtrak appears to be making decisions day by day and so no one knows what they intend to do for travel tomorrow, 09/15. The presumption, at this point, is that motorcoaches will again be used from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.

Not wanting to be snooty, I still would like another option. Here is why:

a) I am traveling with a senior disabled with back problems who had reserved accessible seating on the train specifically because close quarters are difficult as well as walking upstairs on the train. Amtrak's motorcoaches are NOT comfortable on the back. Aside from that, making sure my travel companion can be near a restroom so as to not trip over people trying to walk to the restroom is not guaranteed. Lastly, the close quarters is very difficult for my travel companion. Honestly, the thought of her sitting on a bus 3 hours cramped with folks crammed in seats in close quarters and her having to use the restroom is miserable.

b) When booking this trip, there was an option to take a bus for much of the way, and an option to go a different route to SF, not on the Coast Starlight, which also had more motorcoach bus transport. We specifically paid more money for the Coast Starlight because it did not require us to take a bus and because it is a nicer train and nicer route. We paid more to receive a better trip. We threw that money away for nothing since we now have to take a bus for much of the trip, even though we paid for the nice train route where we did not have to take a bus.

I just read the conditions of carriage (should have read this before I booked). It does say that when there are interruptions in travel, that motorcoach transportation arrangements will be made by Amtrak.

If this were just me traveling, I'd be less than amused on the bus but would deal with it, but given the disability restrictions of my companion, I really want to do whatever I can to avoid her having to sit on the bus for 3 hours.

But what do I do? If the train tracks aren't accessible, they're not accessible. I can't change that. Are there any other options out there I'm not thinking of? Can I book alternate transportation and expect Amtrak to cover it (I'm thinking of an airplane)? Since the conditions of carriage do state they will provide alternative means, and yet those means really are not acceptable to someone with the disabilities this person has, if I drove us to Santa Barbara to meet up with the train, could I expect Amtrak to cover the cost of our gas?

Thanks for the help. It's much appreciated.