I traveled from Brisbane Australia to Los Angeles and as I was travelling alone I decided to find out how to use Public Transport in California. I searched the net but couldn't find what I was looking for; not just timetables but a guide by someone who had actually done it. What follows is a description of one trip.
I hope you find time to look around Union Station as it is quite beautiful..
V-AUSTRALIA arrived 25 minutes late, setting the tone for the rest of the day, It doesn't do you much good getting through an understaffed immigration quickly when the luggage doesn't surface until the luggage hall is full of expectant passengers. Customs were thankfully quick but with only 3 agents there was still a delay.
Eventually emerging from the terminal all I had to do was find the Flyaway Union Station shuttle pickup under the green logo - Just in time to see the bus pulling away. There are a lot of hotel pickups in front of the terminal and there are 2 other destinations for Flyaway. 35 minutes later I caught the next shuttle for Union Station When you arrive at Union Station you have to pay the cashier (7.00) before they will let you collect your luggage.
Down a slight incline and you are in the station although you have to walk to the other end to find the ticket office. On the way enjoy the Spanish/ Art Deco styling.
There are 2 types of service to Oceanside, Metrolink ($15.00) and Amtrak Surfliner($28.00). The metro seems to run during the busy period and Amtrak at quieter times Amtrak costs more but is more comfortable and has a dining car. To me it got down to "catching the next train". We left Los Angeles on the Surfliner at 11.10AM arriving at Oceanside at 1.05PM..
I then had to travel inland, catching the SPRINTER which left at 1.33PM ($2.00) arriving at College Street Station 15 minute later. It was only a 10 minute walk to my daughters house but as it was starting to rain I was happy to meet her along the way.
UNION STATION - LOS ANGELES
AMTRAK Home Page
METROLINK Home
SPRINTER
No comments:
Post a Comment