OAKLAND,
Calif. – Nov. 6, 2019 – In anticipation of the busiest travel week of the year,
Amtrak, the San Joaquins Joint Powers
Authority
(SJJPA) and the Capitol Corridor Joint
Powers Authority (CCJPA) are prepared to accommodate the surge of holiday travelers with
extra equipment and additional capacity on the Capitol Corridor and San
Joaquins service. Tickets sell out quickly, so customers are encouraged to plan
ahead and book early. Last year, the Capitol Corridor and San
Joaquins saw a 65% increase in ridership the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and
a 68% increase the Sunday following Thanksgiving.
The
Amtrak San Joaquins route travels daily between Sacramento, Oakland,
Stockton, Fresno and Bakersfield, along with Thruway buses that provide
connecting service to 135 destinations in California and Nevada, including Los
Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Napa Valley, Las Vegas and Reno. The Capitol
Corridor train operates between Auburn/Sacramento and San Jose, including
service to Berkeley and Oakland, with convenient connections to Bay Area Rapid
Transit (BART) at the Richmond and Oakland Coliseum stations, as well as
Thruway bus service to downtown San Francisco and other destinations throughout
California, including Truckee, Reno, Santa Rosa, Redding, Santa Cruz, San Luis
Obispo and Santa Barbara.
The Capitol
Corridor and San Joaquins also serve a number of colleges and universities
including Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Chico State, UC Davis, UC Berkeley,
Humboldt State and Santa Clara University. Students traveling on either the San
Joaquins or Capitol Corridor can save 15% by booking with California Everyday Discounts (Blackout dates November
20-24, 2019), and Capitol Corridor student passengers can save up to 25% with
the service’s new Stride On Board 6-ride ticket option.
Both
the San Joaquins and the Capitol Corridor feature comfortable seating and offer
a wide variety of amenities including free wi-fi, electrical outlets in each
row, an on-board Café Car offering seasonal sandwiches, snacks and beverages,
bike racks and much more.
Ahead
of the holidays, customers can purchase Amtrak gift cards at Amtrak.com and in various brick and
mortar stores and online retailers. The gift cards, which are available in
physical cards and digital e-gift cards, are accepted exclusively for train
travel purchases and can be redeemed on Amtrak.com and within its mobile application,
as well as in the station at Amtrak ticket offices and through Amtrak contact
centers.
Last year, Amtrak had its largest passenger count to date
during the Thanksgiving week with over 846,000 riders on its trains across the
country.
Route and fare information,
ticketing and reservations are available on Amtrak.com, capitolcorridor.org (for Capitol Corridor passengers), the Amtrak app, or by calling 800-USA-RAIL. Boarding documents can be printed in advance, or customers using a
smartphone or mobile device can present the eTicket to the conductor by opening
a document in their email.
For news, promotions and service
updates, passengers can connect directly with the San Joaquins and Capitol
Corridor:
- Follow
the Amtrak San Joaquins on Facebook and Instagram @AmtrakSanJoaquins or on
Twitter @SanJoaquins. - For
the Capitol Corridor: Sign up for news and service alerts at capitolcorridor.org/news-alerts, or follow @CapitolCorridor on
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.