Sneak preview: New Traintrek coming!

Here's a sneak preview photo from a new Traintrek outing I'm working on. Not going to reveal the location just yet. I'll just say it's in Sacramento's backyard. Sort of.

Hope to have this trip posted in the next week or so.

How to: Reservations not required

One of the joys of train travel is that it's possible to be spontaneous. At least on the Capitol Corridor route, I've found that advance ticket purchase is not required. Which means I can go on a whim.

Quik-Trak kiosk

The easiest way I've found is to arrive at your station at least 15 minutes before departure and buy your ticket at a Quik-Trak kiosk. Located in most Amtrak stations, these work like an ATM machine: press a few buttons, swipe your debit or credit card, and the machine spits out tickets. Then you just walk to the train. You can go the ticket counter instead, but that can be slower.

There is an even faster method, and I discovered this by accident. On one trip, I intended to arrive early at the train station and buy my ticket there, well before boarding. Well, one thing led to another and I ended up barely getting to the train in time to board. So board I did, knowing I could buy a ticket from a conductor on board. I knew this would cost a bit more (they charge an extra fee) but didn't worry much about it.

It ended up being a rather crowded train and the conductor who came for my ticket was, well, a little bit cranky. He was upset I didn't already have a ticket. Apparently the conductor has to do some paperwork when they sell a ticket aboard. So instead, he suggested I use the Amtrak smartphone app to buy my ticket right there on the train. I knew about the app, but resisted it: I guess I'm old-fashioned, and like the feel of a real ticket in my hand.

It turned out to be easy and fast. I now have the app on my phone, and I can purchase a ticket whenever I want. When the conductor comes around for my ticket, I just give him or her my name and ticket code number, or they can scan an verifying reservation image right off my phone.

There are other benefits of the Amtrak app, but I'll write about all that in a future post.

The moral of this story is, don't avoid that train trip just because you haven't bought a ticket already. Get down to your nearest station and buy the ticket there, or buy it en route.

How to Traintrek: Free transfers

One advantage of traveling by Amtrak is connecting with local transit systems, making longer journeys easier.

But something many people may not know is that Amtrak's Capitol Corridor passengers can get free transfers to ride local public transit systems.

In fact, you can even get two transfers to make a round trip on local transit: One to take a local bus or train from your Amtrak destination station, and another to get back to that Amtrak station for the trip home. This is not only a great convenience, but it saves money.

In my own case, I often ride Sacramento Regional Transit light rail trains from my neighborhood in East Sacramento to the Amtrak station downtown. I pay out of pocket for the RT ride into the station. But on the ride home aboard Amtrak, I ask for a transfer, so the ride home on RT is free. This saves me as much as $2, not to mention the time and trouble of obtaining that local transit ticket.

It's simple: When you board Amtrak and the conductor asks for your Amtrak ticket, ask him or her for a transfer (or two, if you need it) to use the relevant local transit service. On the Capitol Corridor, this includes Sacramento Regional Transit, AC Transit in the East Bay, VTA in the Santa Clara Valley, WestCAT in Martinez, and others.

For more on the transfer program, click here.

Unfortunately, you cannot get a transfer for BART trains. But you can get a discount on BART fares. For more on that, click here.

Sacramento's historic train station, where transfers to local public transit are easy.

 

2 new hikes available - in Sacramento!

I've just posted two new hiking guides accessible from Amtrak's Sacramento station:

Pedestrian passage from Amtrak station to Old
Sacramento State Historic Park

Sacramento River Parkway - North
Sacramento River Parkway - South

These can also be accessed from "The Map" page, above.

Like all the Traintreks guides, these are available for free on Scribd, where you can print them out, download them to your computer, e-reader or phone.

These two hikes are sort of close to my heart, as they are located in the city where I live. Both are "urban" hikes, but still offer plenty of interesting experiences and natural scenery. And they are super convenient to access from the Amtrak station.

Both hikes will be familiar to many people who live in Sacramento, but probably new to those who don't. They are interesting enough in themselves for a day-trip by train from the Bay Area, but also provide access to plenty of diversions such as museums, shopping and restaurants.

I hope you'll check them out, and please provide any feedback as you do so!

East Bay Parks expansion: Not much for train trekkers

The East Bay Regional Park District this week approved a new master plan that maps out where it intends to acquire new parkland. Unfortunately, there's not much in it for those of us who want to visit parks by train. In fact, I was surprised and disappointed that their map of the plan includes no reference whatsoever to public transit routes, let alone Amtrak in particular.

Here's a screen grab of the map, focusing on the region (in my opinion) with the most hiking potential:

If you know the Amtrak Capital Corridor route, you know it stops in Martinez and Richmond, and nowhere in between. As I noted elsewhere, Amtrak ignores Point Pinole Regional Park, a great hiking destination, even though the train passes right it.

Anyway, back to my point: There are no new park acquisitions (the black diamonds in the map above) planned near the Capitol Corridor. The closest prospect is the site identified as "North Richmond Shoreline," which I don't think is adjacent to the tracks, let alone the station.

The same applies elsewhere on the map, which covers all of Contra Costa and Alameda counties, consistent with the park district's jurisdiction.

The one bright spot is that the district plans a bunch of new trail connectors, which are the dashed purple lines on the map. The most important, from my perspective, are:

• Connections between Carquinez Strait, Crockett Hills, and the East Bay Municipal Utility District Briones-San Pablo reservoir lands. This would open up a massive hiking excursion, effectively connecting the Martinez Amtrak station to the vast string of parklands stop the East Bay hills, stretching almost unbroken to Castro Valley in the south.
• The smaller trail connectors in Richmond, which would make it easier to get from the Richmond train station to places like Point Pinole and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park.
• The long stretches of proposed trail along the San Pablo Bay shoreline, connecting Martinez with Point Pinole along the water's edge (which sounds like a fantastic hike).

I'm hoping these trail connection become a priority.

For more on the East Bay Regional Park District Master Plan, including a link to a full-size version of the map above, click here.

Food seem better on Amtrak lately? Here's why...

In case you wondered, yes, the food has gotten better on Amtrak trains. Long a sore point with regular riders, the food has often been soggy and bland in the past.

Well, Amtrak has been consulting with some of the nation's premier chefs to pump up your train food a little. In fact, Amtrak is trying to "go gourmet," according to this recent Washington Post article.

Amtrak has employed a test kitchen in Wilmington, Del., to try new recipes. Most of the important chefs on its consulting list are from the Washington, D.C., area. The names mean nothing to me, since I'm not a foodie. The important thing is that the new menu items are being rolled out on Amtrak routes nationwide - mainly on the long-distance routes for now.

Another noteworthy point is that the chefs were not paid, at least not directly. Instead, they were offered "miles" in the Amtrak Rewards travel program as compensation. I call this a creative use of an alternate and readily available currency for an agency that is forever under the microscope in Congress.

Cool Capitol Corridor summer travel deal

Amtrak's Capitol Corridor route is offering a tremendous summer deal. Buy one full-price fare to any destination on the Capitol Corridor, and up to five of your friends can ride for only $5 each.

The deal is valid for travel through Sept. 1. It's a great complement for hiking groups traveling by train. It's even valid for folks who want to take Amtrak Thruway bus service to San Francisco.

For all the details (and there are a few restrictions), click here: Amtrak Take 5 fare deal.