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Amtrak Thruway#10

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}

{{Short description|Connecting transportation services brand}}

File:Amtrak California Thruway Motorcoach.jpg C2045L Amtrak California Thruway Motorcoach at the Bakersfield station]]

Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transit buses, vans, taxis, ferry boats and commuter rail trains.

Train and Thruway tickets are typically purchased together from Amtrak for the length of a passenger's journey and connections are timed for guaranteed transfers between the two services.

In addition to providing connecting service to unserved areas, some Thruway services operate as redundant service along passenger rail corridors to add extra capacity.

History and purpose

Amtrak operates the Thruway network to extend the reach of its train services, offering connections to destinations not directly served by Amtrak trains. The earliest incarnation of such a service was launched in January 1973, to provide a connection between Amtrak's Inter-American in Laredo, Texas, and the Aztec Eagle train run by N de M from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.{{Cite web|title=Historic Timeline — Amtrak: History of America's Railroad|url=https://history.amtrak.com/amtraks-history/historic-timeline|access-date=November 25, 2021|website=history.amtrak.com}} The following year, Amtrak launched an agreement with Greyhound allowing for passengers to buy combined bus and rail tickets for connecting services run by the two companies. These services were the predecessors of Thruway Motorcoach. The first Amtrak bus service to bear the name "Amtrak Thruway" was launched in California in 1993.{{Cite news|last=Munson|first=Jeff|date=April 27, 1993|title=Amtrak offers link to valley|work=The Union Democrat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWRjAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1|access-date=November 24, 2021}} Amtrak launched a significant expansion of Thruway Motorcoach services across the United States in 2014.

Routes

=Northeast=

File:Amtrak_Thruway_Motorcoach_at_Newport_News_station,_January_2013.jpg, January 2013]]

=East=

=Midwest=

=West=

=Pacific Northwest=

= California =

File:YARTS Bus at Merced.jpg bus at the Merced, California, station operating as Amtrak Thruway route 15A to Yosemite.]]

  • {{Anchor|1}} Route 1: {{amtk|Bakersfield}} – {{amtk|Los Angeles}} – {{amtk|Santa Ana}} – {{amtk|San Diego}}{{Cite web |date=May 15, 2022 |title=Thruway Bus Routes |url=https://amtraksanjoaquins.com/thruway-bus-routes/ |access-date=September 26, 2022 |website=San Joaquins |publisher=San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority |language=en-US}}
  • {{Anchor|1C}} Route 1C: Bakersfield – {{amtk|Santa Clarita}} – {{Rint|air|link=Hollywood Burbank International Airport}} {{amtk|Burbank Airport}} – UCLA – {{amtk|Santa Monica}}
  • {{Anchor|3}} Route 3: {{amtk|Redding}} – {{amtk|Chico}} – {{amtk|Sacramento}} – Stockton
  • {{Anchor|6}} Route 6: Stockton – {{amtk|San Jose}} – Santa Cruz (some Stockton – San Jose services operated by Altamont Corridor Express trains, San Jose – Santa Cruz operated as Highway 17 Express by Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District){{Cite web |date=August 15, 2022 |title=Capital Corridor Connecting Bus Schedule |url=https://images.capitolcorridor.org/busschedule/Bus_Schedules.pdf |access-date=September 26, 2022 |website=Capitol Corridor |publisher=Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority}}
  • {{Anchor|7}} Route 7: {{amtk|Martinez}} – Napa – Santa Rosa – Arcata
  • {{Anchor|10}} Route 10: Santa Barbara – Bakersfield – Las Vegas, Nevada (through-ticketed Alvand Transportation route){{Cite web |title=Public Review Draft 2024 SJJPA Business Plan Update |url=https://cdn.sjjpa.com/wp-content/uploads/20240305161430/DRAFT-2024-SJJPA-Business-Plan-Update_Public-Review.pdf |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority |pages=18–21}}
  • {{Anchor|15A}} Route 15A: {{amtk|Merced}} – Yosemite (through-ticketed Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System route)
  • {{Anchor|15B}} Route 15B: {{amtk|Fresno}} – Yosemite (through-ticketed Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System route)
  • {{Anchor|17}} Route 17: {{amtk|Oakland}} – {{amtk|San Luis Obispo}} – Santa Barbara{{Cite web |date=May 25, 2022 |title=Connecting Amtrak Thruway Bus Service |url=https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/plan-your-trip/connections/bus-connections/ |access-date=September 26, 2022 |website=Pacific Surfliner |publisher=LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency |language=en}}
  • {{Anchor|18}} Route 18: Santa Maria – San Luis Obispo – {{amtk|Hanford}} – Visalia (through-ticketed AmericanStar Trailways route)
  • {{Anchor|19}} Route 19: Bakersfield – Pasadena – {{amtk|Riverside}} – {{amtk|San Bernardino}}
  • {{Anchor|20}} Route 20: Sacramento – Colfax – {{amtk|Reno}}/Sparks, Nevada
  • {{Anchor|20C}} Route 20C: Sacramento – South Lake Tahoe (through-ticketed El Dorado Transit route)
  • {{Anchor|21}} Route 21: San Jose – San Luis Obispo – Santa Barbara (through-ticketed AmericanStar Trailways route){{Cite press release |title=Amtrak Rt 21 Reinstated Bus Service |date=November 1, 2020 |publisher=AmericanStar Tours |url=https://www.edhat.com/amtrak-rt-21-reinstated-bus-service-effective-november-1-2020 |access-date=September 26, 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202010006/https://www.edhat.com/amtrak-rt-21-reinstated-bus-service-effective-november-1-2020 |archive-date=December 2, 2020}}
  • {{Anchor|39}} Route 39: {{amtk|Fullerton}} – {{amtk|Palm Springs}} – Coachella Valley
  • {{Anchor|99}} Route 99: Oakland/{{amtk|Emeryville}} – San Francisco

As a result of a 2019 state law, most Thruway routes in California are available to passengers using only buses without connecting to an Amtrak train.{{cite press release |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Freddy |title=Press Release: Redding Area Bus Authority in Partnership with Amtrak San Joaquins is Headed to Chico |url=https://amtraksanjoaquins.com/press-release-raba-partnership-with-asj/ |publisher=San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority |date=August 22, 2024}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.transitunlimited.org/Amtrak_Thruway Transit Unlimited Profile]
  • [https://www.amtrak.com/thruway-connecting-services-multiply-your-travel-destinations Amtrak Thruway Connecting Services]

{{Amtrak}}

{{LA Mass Transit|state=collapsed}}

Thruway Motorcoach

Category:Intercity bus companies of the United States

Category:Bus transportation in the United States