I'm travelling tommorow on the Pacific Surfliners/San Joaquin and Thruway buses from San Diego to San Jose. I just discovered that the last bus (Stockton -> San Jose) doesn't carry checked baggage (it seems at other times of the day it does, but not the one I'm taking).

I remember that it used to be that in such cases I could check the bags and they would arrive later on a different train, but this is no longer mentioned in the timetables like it used to be. Does Amtrak still allow this, or do I have to lug it on board?

Yonatan

You will be able to check in your bags at the station in San Diego and will receive claim checks that say Stockton on them for your bags. The actual bags will be tagged (by Amtrak staff) with a bright pink transfer slip that indicates the bags will be transferred over to the thruway bus to San Jose. The bags will be transported on the Surfliner train, San Joaquin thruway between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, and the San Joaquin train between Bakersfield and Stockton (all in secure, innaccesible baggage areas). At Stockton the bags will be taken off the train and brought over to the San Jose-bound thruway bus for you. You shouldn't have to worry about them; just give your Stockton claim checks to the thruway bus driver when boarding and he/she will make sure your bags are received and stored underneath the thruway. You will be able to get them when you disembark at San Jose.

Have a great trip and thank you for traveling Amtrak California!

The checked bags do not have to go on the same train/bus as you.

Indeed they could be checked through from San Diego to San Jose via the Coast Starlight or an earlier San Joaquin.

It may be that the ticket office is not open at San Jose for the last bus, which would explain why that option is unavailable.

Thanks for the info.

They sent my bags up on the next day's Coast Starlight. I was suprised they couldn't send them on an earlier routing - it looks like several Amtrak routings involving thruways do carry checked bags the whole way to San Jose and would have arrived earlier.

I also have a guess as to why they couldn't check luggage through to San Jose - I was taking a SAC-bound train that stopped at the unstaffed ACE station, not the regular Stockton station, so I guess there's no one there to retreive or transfer checked bags.

Incidentally, on the bus to SJC, I was the only passenger! Is this normal??

Yonatan

Ridership on the Stockton-San Jose bus service varies. Likely that last run of the day also serves as a deadhead move, and was added to round out the offerings on the San Joaquin route.

The more-established runs will do much better.

These bus services operate with private contractors and are quite cost-efficient over all.