u/sf1878

Is anyone here a regular user of Red Cap service at Union Station in LA?

TLDR: does anyone who uses the Red Cap frequently in LA have a good way to get ahold of them if they're not around and don't answer the phone?

I go through the station a couple of times a month but only need to use Red Cap once or twice a year when my knee that hates me is particularly bad.

A week ago Saturday I got in from LA at about 9 PM and no red caps came around (there was a weird train configuration) and there was another person by me in a wheelchair, no way I could push them while on crutches. None of the train staff that came in with us was helpful. They just wanted to go home. I tried to call the Red Cap number I always use and it was out of order and finally called the security desk.

When I went out again on Tuesday morning to go back to SF there were no security guards in the pick up area to call for the Red Cap so I tried the number again still not working (I've used this many times before).

I'm going back next week so I tried the number today a couple of times to see if it's working and it's not out of order anymore, but no one picks up.

I called Amtrak customer relations and after an hour on the phone, he basically said not my problem, call the Union Station station manager and gave me that number which I called and they don't answer.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and how you resolved it. They only have two Red Caps most of the time now and it will be really busy next week because of the World Cup (which is why I'm going back!).

If you are an SFPL user, sign up for summer stride! If you log 20 hours of anything related to the library – reading, movies, events, you get a cute tote bag at the end (apparently I can't add photos here, but it's at the link). Starts today.

San Francisco Public Library Summer Stride

I take the Coast Starlight round-trip between Oakland and LA about twice a month and then Oakland and Portland or Seattle a couple of times a year.

The last four times (including now) when we have been on or ahead time and I've decided not to have dinner the train has had a big delay.

Last trip I joked with the attendant that I wasn't going to have dinner and hopefully that didn't delay the train since it was becoming a pattern and an hour out of LA the train ahead of us hit someone and we had a four hour delay.

Tonight I did the same thing, I can only get a 1 PM lunch reservation and then the only offer for dinner was 430 P so I said no since we were ahead of time and again joked that hopefully it didn't delay the train. Of course we're an hour out of LA stopped for already an hour now because apparently someone is playing in one of the tunnels ahead of us.

So I guess I eat dinner every trip going forward.

Anyone with recent experience in the 31 or 32 car on the Zephyr? Trying to figure out if Amtrak is doing the same thing on the Zephyr as they are now doing on the Starlight, one attendant covering the 31 and 32 cars?

I called Amtrak but they said they did not know. I did round trips on the Starlight last weekend and again this weekend and happened to be in 31 both times. The attendant was great in both cases, but had no time for even the basics and was exhausted. Last night the train ahead of us hit someone about an hour out of LA and we had a four hour delay and a particularly needy set of people in our car and I didn't know if the attendant would make it to the end.

I have four upcoming Starlight and one upcoming Zephyr reservations in the next few months and conveniently all the Starlight are in the 30 cars, but Zephyr is in 31 and 32.

I have periodic limited mobility (one knee hates me) so it's hard to get particularly from the 32 car to the diner and I usually have meals in the room but the attendants just don't have time for that when they're covering two cars.