Hello all, I am scheduled to arrive at SFO at 7 PM on Friday the 19th of November on my flight from Spain. I need to arrive in Sacramento that same evening. I notice there are several Amtrak trains going north. I will catch the Bart at SFO and head to the Richmond station in hopes of catching the last Capital train at 9:57PM.
The thing is airlines are notoriously late arriving, as well as having to pass through customs and then wait for baggage, so I imagine I will be lucky to catch the last Amtrak train to Sacramento, which leaves at 9:57. Giving me 3 hours from touchdown, if the plane arrives on schedule, to take the Bart to Richmond.
There is another train, the Coast Starlight which leaves at 10:20. However I am advised that this train is notoriously late. So good on the one hand, allowing me time to get there, but bad on the other hand if it arrives several hours late.
Also for this train I need to purchase a ticket and reserve in advance.
So besides the slight disadvantage of this train arriving super late, there is also the possibility that if I hedge my bets, not buying a ticket till the last minute at the kiosk I might find the train full.
What are my chances and possibilities here?
Can anyone give some advice to a SF noobie? thanks.
The Amtrak is unlikely to be full (very few people commute by Amtrak), I’ve taken that train in rush-hour and it was half empty, at night it will definitely be almost empty. So going to Richmond and getting ticket at the Quik-Trak should be fine.
Three hours should be plenty to reach Richmond. However be aware the main delay coming into the country is immigration, which can easily take more than an hour, on top of any other delays (thats only an issue at SF if your flight is direct, if you transfer somewhere in the US then you have to go through immigration there).
BART is fairly reliable and regular (by US public transport standards at least). Though they’ve messed around with the schedule to SFO so check when the last BART is.
Frankly, I don’t like your chances. It doesn’t sound absolutely impossible, but if anything goes wrong at all, you have a very slender margin of error. Not to mentioned, if you miss the train, the Richmond BART station is definitely not where you want to be at 10 pm if you’re lost and confused.
Would it not be possible to stay in an airport hotel and wait until the next day to take the train? If you’re doing this for work, would it be possible to hire a car and get your employer to cover it? I looked around to see if there’s an airport shuttle from Sacramento, but couldn’t find anything. I bet a Sacramento Doper could give a better answer- this isn’t a route I’ve ever actually traveled.
I agree with **Kyla **that this turnaround is going to be T-I-G-H-T. Tight.
If the plane is right on time or early, if the immigration and customs lines are short, and if you have no trouble or delay AT ALL in those lines, you might be able to do it. But you essentially have three hours, with over 1 hour of that on the BART train. In less than two hours, you have to deplane, clear immigration, get your luggage, clear customs, and get to the BART station, as well as hope that BART itself doesn’t hit any snags, and then get to your train at the other end.
I wish you luck, and i hope it works out. If you have the option, you should definitely look into staying overnight, or renting a car.
Thanks so much for the onsite advice. I know it’s going to be tight. I guess I’ll decide my strategy when I arrive, checking my watch and seeing how customs goes. This is not a business trip so no way to bill anything to a company.
The other suggestion I would have is to forget about BART and take one of the many shuttles or, for a bit more money, a taxi cab.
While BART is convenient, it is bloody slow. Just taking the tram at the airport to the BART station can tack on 15 or 20 minutes to your travel time and then there are the innumerable BART stops to Richmond.
Once you get through customs, if you grab your luggage and hop in a cab (about a $45 ride), you could be at the Richmond station within 30 minutes or so. That BART ride could take upwards of 90 minutes. You will spend a little extra money for the transportation, but you would definitely be saving yourself some valuable transit time.
Just called Delta and confirmed. Customs and immigration will be at JFK in New York and then to board another plane. How does my situation look now for reaching Richmond, granted my flight arrives on time?
Yes – when you fly into the US, you must go through customs and immigration at the first airport in the US (unless you are coming from Canada, when you clear US customs and immigration at the airport in Canada). This is even if your next flight takes you out of the US: there are no “in transit” facilities at airports in the US.
However, since your JFK-SFO flight is relatively late in the day, there’s a significant chance that it will be delayed, perhaps because of an earlier delay that day. So you need alternate plans if that happens.
If you do take a taxi from SFO, take it to a closer Amtrak station than Richmond, e.g., the station at Emeryville. That will save you a few dollars. Unfortunately, the Emeryville station is not close to a BART station.
An alternate plan if you’re too late would be to take Amtrak to Oakland, and stay at a motel near the Amtrak station at Jack London Square, so you can catch the first train in the morning from there. Staying in Oakland is a bit less expensive than staying near SFO or in downtown San Francisco.
Perhaps a silly question, but if you want to get to Sacramento, why are you flying to San Francisco in the first place? Especially as Delta fly from JFK to SAC (via SLC).
I’ve flown through San Francisco on my way back to Sacramento on many occasions. While it is easy to find flights through Sacramento, sometimes they are a lot more expensive than San Francisco. If we’re going on a lengthy trip hotel parking near SFO for the duration of the trip plus one night’s stay is often a comparable price to parking or taxi at Sacramento, so it makes sense to drive down to SFO and ignore SMF.
bardos, I’ve actually done exactly what you are trying to do when I was just visiting Sacramento some years back. Given your flight arrival of 7pm and the Amtrak time of 9:57pm, you have a pretty good chance of making it - if your plane is on time I don’t think it’ll even be close. It took me about an hour to get from SFO to Richmond, which even if it takes an hour to get through the airport leaves you with a spare hour. Of course if your plane is delayed all bets are off, and unlike a connection to another aircraft you’ll be on your own. The good thing is you’ll know if you’re screwed within the airport, so you can make alternative arrangements from there. I think if you leave the airport by 8pm you’re pretty much guaranteed to make it.
Don’t worry about Amtrak being crowded. Sometimes you’ll have an entire car to yourself!
Thank you for the encouraging words. I guess I’ll know by the time I land. I was thinking about doing all carry on luggage so as to escape super rápido.
Could I getaway with one of those smallish suitcases and a backpack as carry-on items?
Women seem to getaway with a carry on bag, a computer and their purse.
Maybe this should be a new thread entirely.
It should take a bit over an hour to make that trip on BART. Here’s a planned trip from 511 (which is a good way to combine public transit schedules all around the SF Bay Area): SFO to Richmond
That’s based on published schedules, of course, so it’s not completely accurate. It shouldn’t be too busy then (after the commute but before late night crowds).
Very nice chart. Thank you. It shows the possibilities of boarding, (considering a timely flight arrival) are 7:48, 8:08, 8:28 which gets me to Richmond at 9:36. Just about my last possibility. So if I can’t get aboard the 8:28, I’m toast.
If you haven’t already got your Amtrak ticket, make sure you have a credit card that works. There isn’t an Amtrak ticket counter in Richmond, just a self service kiosk.
I guess if I was stuck in Richmond without a ticket at 10am I’d just jump on the train anyway with the intention of paying the conductor - I suspect there is a fine for that, but would they really throw you off the train?