Amtrak - Emeryville

I like to Railfan the trains and record them on my YouTube channel. Also I always catch Amtrak California Zephyr Train #6 to Reno Nevada to visit my family and Riding on Amtrak is more fun then driving and it's takes to places where no car has ever been. The train is more comfortable to relax and take a nap while you're traveling. I also like the Heritage Units in the Amtrak Engine like the P42DC-164 50th anniversary of Amtrak Engine. And sometimes I like the Freight train engine on the Amtrak for the train rescue Helping out the Amtrak engines

The Amtrak station employees here have a bad attitude. I've been through many amtrak stations. I have had really enjoyable experiences, but not here.

Today, we took Amtrak from Truckee to Emeryville. I was born and raised in the Bay Area, and I get it. There's a hustle bustle to the Bay, but it does not entitle people to be rude. We were kind and tried to he cheerful even though we were tired from traveling all day.

Our train was delayed 5 hours. Originally supposed yo board at 10AM. Boarded at 3PM. Delayed another hour en route. We did not get to the Bay until 9:40PM. A long travel day. We were fine with the long travel day as our attendants on the train were kind and happy to answer our questions.

When we arrived in Emeryville, we said goodbye to our great attendants. Emeryville was where the chaos ensued. Everyone was confused about the bus, and there were no signs. No instructions. We were never told where to buy a ticket or if we even needed a ticket. We were simply told that there was a connection bus. As we were told it'd a connecting bus, most assumed we didn't need to take a side trip to an office.

Everyone stood in line, dazed as the driver yelled at all of us. Clearly frustrated. Why are you frustrated? Why doesn't your company do better? They should be preparing the customers with instructions.

Anyways, most of us were turned away and told us to buy an additional ticket. When we asked her how much it would cost, all she said was, "I don't know. Go to the ticket office. "

We decided to pull our bags from the undercarriage so we could get out of people's way. Instead, the bus driver walked over and yelled at us, "What are you doing?!".

At that point, we were done. We noticed other people also leaving.

We opted for Uber instead.

I will never opt for this station. However it's easier said than done.

I much prefer getting off at Oakland Jack London station and taking the ferry or Bart across the Bay.

This has been my go-to Amtrak station since going to college at UC Berkeley. Now living in San Francisco, this is still my go-to station since there is an easy 15-minute bus connection from/to FiDi.

I usually take the early morning San Joaquin train which is usually on time since the line begins at Emeryville. I also have taken the beautiful Star Coastline train to San Luis Obispo, which is often late since it comes from Seattle or LA.

I haven't had to park a car longterm here but however you get here, I definitely recommend finding a way to avoid climbing the bridge stairs while carrying all your luggage.

Lots of adequate seating in a big open room as well as some seats outside. Definitely older cracked seats with very few wall outlets, but there are water fountains and gendered bathrooms that need a passcode. In a corner, there are also some phone power banks for rent and a shelf of free books donated by a library.

There is also a good size coffee shop inside with a variety of snacks but personally I would rather grab a bigger & cheaper latte from the Coffee and Snack Shop that is a 2-minute walk from the station.

Haven't had to interact much with the staff but they were very helpful the few times I missed my connection bus!

I haven't run into any issues or hostile situations here so I have felt pretty safe with all my belongings.

Definitely recommend & love my Amtrak station!

Decided to take Amtrak to Reno this weekend from Emeryville.

This train station smells like urine! Literally the whole seating area.

Anyways, I sat in coach on the top. If you have multiple people with you like I did, we were 6 in total, tell the train attendant and they will try their best to seat you all together depending in how full the train is.

If you want to sleep, the seats recline and there is leg and foot rests so you can get comfortable. Bring your blanket and neck pillow! Also an eye mask and noise canceling headphones cause it is a little loud.

The train can get stuffy so dress in layers. The train is also dirty so bring Clorox wipes to wipe down the trays and arm rest cause they were filthy! Oh and the bathrooms were also outdated, small, filthy and the fixtures were either broken or rusty. I have my essential oils spray so I literally spray everywhere!

Wish I took pictures but didn't want to contaminate my phone! Lol

They have a small Cafe with snacks like microwavable food wrapped in plastic, chips, cheese trays, hummus, oatmeal, soda, alcohol, etc, There is a restaurant also that serves limited food for a limited time on board. It is $25 for a drink, entree, and dessert. But I would suggest you pack your own food and snacks though.

Other than that, the view was breathtaking.

I got enticed to travel on he Amtrak Zephyr from Emeryville, CA to Denver CO. The consensus amongst train officianados is that this is the crown jewel of unforgettable train rides in North America. We had a roomette, the cheapest sleeper cabin available. It is very compact but designed to use every piece of space that is there for maximum efficiency. There is no toilet there's no shower in the room, but the sleeper car has these facilities to share with similar sleeper car travelers.

Daily, there is complimentary coffee and water and all meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner are included. Unfortunately, if you're gonna be in the car for a few days, it is the same menu that you will see daily. I'm told that other Amtrak trains that run long distances also have the same menu (see my pictures). After dinner, the train staff make your beds for you. The sheets are clean, nice pillow, and a plastic wrapped blanket. Very small towels are also supplied, including shampoo, conditioner, and bath gel. The bed is comfortable ....in the roomette you get one bed made where the seats are, and another one on top of that which is a pull out bed. Both are prepared by the staff. In the morning, they convert the beds back to the original arrangement of two seats.

The food needs something more to be desired. I had the omelette for breakfast, the Angus burger for lunch on one day and the baked potato with vegan chili on the other. The burger was the best meal and the most fresh. The omelette was okay. The steak for dinner was fine but as I ate more, it became really chewy. It also needed more sauce. The vegan chili had flavor, but it was dry, tasted old, and could've had more taste. Point to note, is that when you order the food it comes out really fast. I didn't like the fact that at dinner, they brought out the dessert at the same time as the entree. Both the cheese cake and chocolate mousse were superb. There is also a cafe below the lounge car, where you can get beverages, including alcohol and snacks, but you have to pay for it. Nobody wanted to go there because the lady who was in charge was unfriendly to several travelers.

The staff that were on the train were also very different. Only a couple of them were willing to engage in conversation. The lounge car could have done with some heat. It was freezing most of the time, my hands iced and I had to use the restroom more than I should have. I spoke to a conductor and asked him to give us some heat in the lounge car. He replied without empathy, saying he could not because it was already set. On the whole it was a good trip, if you can stomach the food (a lot of it pre prepared and heated) and patchy service. Also drown your frustration of not having WiFi on the train. Come with lots of data and hot spot capabilities. Instead, you need to concentrate on the views and the unparalleled scenery and route the train takes to get you to Denver. The journey is breathtaking, and will provide awe, spectacular vistas and unforgettable memories for years to come.

Customer service at this station is very, very poor. One agent was downright hostile and aggressive. The least enjoyable leg of our trip.

We had two women in wheelchair. Four of seven of us approached the bus stop in front of Sales Force Building at 7:38 and said the other three are a block away. The driver became angry and said he wasn't waiting even though the bus wasn't supposed to leave until 7:40. We arrived with a wheelchair and two others at 7:41. Yes we were 1 minute late as he saw us approaching. We said thank you but he was clearly pissed. No compassion. So unkind. Not happy with this experience.

The five-star review is for the station and not for the delays for almost two hours.

Our train was scheduled to depart at 9:45 pm, and the announcement said the train is delayed. I must apologize to the nice people working at the station because I had bugged them a few times.

After almost two hours later, the train finally came and the superstar Keisha announced it with her sweet and uplifting voice. That definitely had brightened up my night. She was very helpful, kind, patient(especially, with me), and professional.

The facility itself was clean, and the bathrooms are kept clean with plenty of essential supplies.

Keisha helped me transformed from a dragon lady to a happy train rider. Thank you Keisha!

Very clean, quiet station with polite staff and very clean bathrooms. We were catching the overnight from San Fran to Portland and had a few hours to wait. One note...no charging areas as advertised. Everything is unplugged.

A remarkable place in 2023.

No sign inside displaying the train schedules. A staff member explained the reason why, but it doesn't matter. Humans want to know if the trains are coming. And if they are delayed.

Public address system is terrible - can't understand announcements.

No working Wi-Fi. In the San Francisco Bay Area, tech central.

Also, their app sucks. If you can tell me where the buses and trains hand-off, good on you. I had to call.

Understaffed phone lines.

Friendly staff member here.

I would give it one star, but there hasn't been a military assault, and it's not filthy. So there's that.

If China attacks right now, it's going to piss me off.