California Trains
Amtrak Thanksgiving Travel
See Map of Amtrak California service routes
Amtrak carried a record 737,537 passengers last year during the Thanksgiving holiday, up 1.9% over the previous year and the prior record set in 2011. Californians and tourists to the state are being advised to make reservations right away since California has two of the most popular routes in the U.S., the #2-ranked Pacific Surfliner between San Diego & San Luis Obispo, and #5 ranked San Joaquin (Oakland/Sacramento-Bakersfield with thruway to Los Angeles.)
To accommodate the expected surge of riders on Thanksgiving week Amtrak plans to operate every available passenger rail car in its fleet and is scheduling extra trains and adding capacity on routes. The busiest travel days are the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after the holiday. Other than Thanksgiving Day, morning trains typically have more available seats than those in the afternoon and evening.
The State of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) augments Amtrak's trains through capital grants and support for station and track improvements, signaling, locomotives and passenger rail cars, connecting Amtrak Thruway bus service, and operating assistance for the Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin routes. These two California train routes and numerous Thruway bus routes, collectively referred to as Amtrak California, are funded and managed by Caltrans, but operated by Amtrak in addition to Amtrak's own interstate trains - the Coast Starlight, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, and Sunset Limited. The State of California also provides funding for the Capitol Corridor which is managed by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority in cooperation with Caltrans and Amtrak.