darben

I recently booked a trip om points from Phoenix to Syracuse for December 17,2013. The system shows Thruway bus to FLG and train rest of the way.
Returning leaving SYR on December 25 the AGR agent says there is no bus connection between FLG and Phoenix. The SouthWest Chief timetable shows Greyhound thruway bus 8703 from Flagstaff to Phoenix on the day I arrive in Flagstaff leaving at 1005 PM. The train is scheduled into Flagstaff at 8.51 PM. It also shows Arizona Shuttle to Phoenix with about 14 departures
Flagstaff • Phoenix (Arizona Shuttle)
Thruway Number 8561 8563 8553 8557 8559 8565 8567 8581 8569 Thruway Number 8560 8554 8562 8576 8556 8558 8564 8566 8568
In fact they stop right at the Amtrak station

NOTE—In addition to the same-day train connections at Flagstaff shown above, this service allows a choice of departures for overnight connections at Flagstaff for


Agent would not book it for me states that they do not book busses and that I would have to pay for the bus out of pocket. Also states that there is not enough time between train arrival and bus for me to get the bus. Even though a 0230 bus stops right at Amtrak station

If a thruway bus cannot be booked because of the time constraints then what good is having the thruway bus.
In fact I just called Greyhound in Flagstaff and they state that they are used to the train being late and honor the thruway bus tickets for the 10:10 pm bus on the 0230 bus on a space available basis

WHat gives.

Armani

Although I can't answer the questions about the buses, there are Hertz and Enterprise rental cars available in the station. We have often taken the train to Flagstaff and flown back from Phoenix. Renting in Flagstaff was always substantially less than renting in PHX and there were no dropoff charges.

darben

Except according to Hertz the counter at Amtrak now closes at 6PM. They used to stay to meet the train but no more according to the Hertz rep. Also after hours Pick up is no longer available
Enterprise will not rent at 6 Pm either

AGR Insider

Dear sir,

I encourage you to review your reservation again. As the state of Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, Train 3 is scheduled to arrive in Flagstaff one hour later after November 2. This would leave you too little time (in fact, about ten minutes as scheduled) to make your way from Flagstaff's Amtrak station to Flagstaff's Greyhound station in time for bus 8703. We cannot guarantee such a short connection.

There is no further bus service to Phoenix that evening, and the following day is a redemption blackout date.

Kind wishes,
AGR Insider

Armani

That is disappointing to learn. If they hadn't been open last March when we arrived, we would have been stuck in a blizzard in Flagstaff. As a last resort, you can take a taxi to pick up a rental at the airport. It is about a 10 minute ride. Perhaps Hertz will pick up the tab. Good luck. Ground transportation is often a major challenge when traveling with Amtrak.

We stayed on a previous trip at the Fairfield Inn, and they provided transportation to the airport at the time. We paid about $10 for a taxi to FI and they provided a ride to the airport in the AM.

darben

Finally a valid reason well thought out and believable. Not the BS reasons I received yesterday

darben

You cannot p/u at Hertz FLG after 6 PM and even though it says after hours P/U is available 1) you cannot book it. 2) A Hertz agent will tell you it is unavailable. 3) Hertz 24/7 has not assigned any cars to Flagstaff so even though that shows as an option it is not available. So the thruway bus is the only option to Phoenix and the thruway bus connections leaves BEFORE the train arrives.

Reindeerflame

This is the problem with having a non-dedicated bus. Amtrak should be contracting for its own service that runs for its passengers in a market like this one.

darben

And it is the only station for Phoenix bound passengers (Yea I know Maricopa is listed but there is NO transportation)

fairviewroad

^

This would seem like such an obvious candidate for a dedicated Thruway run. A once-daily, subject-to-delays LD train connecting via interstate highway to a major metropolitan area, with very little alternate transportation options (even the current code-share connection requires a cross-town self-transfer!).

Come on, Amtrak...why can't you make such obvious service enhancements? Why can you have dedicated Thruway buses to places like Shreveport and Bellingham but not one of the nation's largest cities (Phoenix)?

(I know, the answer probably has something to do with the state of Arizona not wishing to fund it)

darben

Okay so I did some checking. The greyhound bus that is the thruway connection in Flagstaff leaves from Albuquerque about the same time as the Train. It appears the bus travels faster than the train. Bus goes abq, intermediate stops,flg - Phoenix. SO that is one option for travelers to Phoenix from the east.
Car rental is available in Abq one way PHX from $68.00.

This may save someone some time in the future. ABQ is a border city so I will save some points as well.

3Cforme

Do you happen to know how many Amtrak travelers on an average day go between FLG and PHX? That seems like a useful statistic to start.

As for some entity subsidizing your hypothetical Amtrak Thruway bus, it's likely the state is already providing a subsidy for FLG-PHX.

darben

Do you happen to know how many Amtrak travelers on an average day go between FLG and PHX? That seems like a useful statistic to start.

My guess is the answer is zero because you cannot get a thruway bus connection to Phoenix from Flagstaff.


As for some entity subsidizing your hypothetical Amtrak Thruway bus, it's likely the state is already providing a subsidy for FLG-PHX.My guess is the answer is zero because you cannot get there from here.

If there is a subsidy it should be withdrawn as there is no service

fairviewroad

As darben has pointed out, any current stats would be compromised due to the difficulty of booking the connection. (It's possible during Daylight Savings Time, but not during Standard Time.) Plus, even when you can book the connection, you have to "self-transfer" (taxi or walk) from the Amtrak station to the Greyhound station, which is surely a turn-off to potential customers. A dedicated Thruway connection would eliminate both of those barriers.

It would be a mistake to judge demand based on the current substandard service.

Armani

I have taken the train to Flagstaff 3 times over the past 5 years and returned from Flagstaff once. This is a very busy station and at least a car load of passengers got off there on my trips. Many picked up rental cars (when Hertz stayed open), and I noticed that some buses actually picked up passengers at the station (not Greyhound). Several passengers were staying in Flagstaff for the night to visit the Grand Canyon, Sedona, or drive to Phoenix. We preferred to stay the night there, stop in Sedona the next day and drive on to Phoenix where we own a timeshare. Sedona is basically on the way to Phoenix and well worth a stopover.

The Hertz person was based at FLG airport, but would go to the station when trains arrived/departed. I am very disappointed that this is no longer an option, and it appears that the Hertz location at the airport is no longer open that late. It appears the only option is to now stay at a local hotel and rent a car the following morning. Fortunately, there are several hotels in the area.