College Move-in Days to Disrupt Thruways

Amtrak Thruway bus service in San Luis Obispo, California, will be affected by road closures on Sept. 13 and 14 as students at Cal Poly University return to campus.

In a service advisory, Amtrak said some Thruway buses on those days will be unable to reach the Cal Poly stop or PAC Loop between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. when students will be moving into the school’s residence halls.

Affected on Sept. 13 will be buses 4010, 4015, 4761, 4765, 4770, 4784, 4785, 4794, 6238 and 6241. Affected on Sept. 14 will be Thruway Buses 4010, 4015, 4761, 4765, 4784, 4794, 6238 and 6241.

Amtrak said all Thruway service will run normally at the San Luis Obispo station stop on both days.

Amtrak Begins New Thruway in Pennsylvania

Amtrak has launched a new Thruway service in Pennsylvania linking Philadelphia with Reading and Pottstown.

The twice daily service is being operated by Krapf Coaches under a service agreement with Amtrak.

It is being sponsored in part by the South Central Transit Authority in Reading and the Pottstown Area Economic Development agency.

New Thruway Added to Bellingham

Amtrak had added an additional Thruway bus between Seattle and Bellingham, Washington.

The bus service, which is being operated in cooperation with the Washington State Department of Transportation, will bring the number of roundtrip Thruway buses on the route to two daily.

Set to launch on Feb. 28, the new bus service is being provided by MRT Western.

In a service advisory Amtrak said Bus 5605 will depart Bellingham at 10:45 a.m. and connect with Cascades Service No. 505 in Seattle.

The return new bus route, No. 5604 will connect in Seattle with Cascades No. 504 and arrive in Bellingham at 6 p.m.

Other Thruway bus scheduled on the route include Bus 5677 departing Bellingham at 3 p.m. and connecting with Train 507 in Seattle. Bus 5622 connects from Train 500 at Seattle and arrives in Bellingham at 2:15 p.m.

New LA-Vegas Thruway Route Launched

Amtrak has established a new daily Thruway route linking Los Angeles with Las Vegas.

The bus route connects with Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service and operates twice daily.

Intermediate stops are made at San Bernardino, Victorville, and Barstow, as well as two stops in Las Vegas.

Passengers are guaranteed a connection to Surfliner trains. However, Thruway passengers can buy bus tickets without a train segment if they so choose.

LA-Vegas Thruway Service Modified

Amtrak has modified its Thruway bus service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The buses are now following as outlined below.

A new service operated by Alvand Transportation will travel between Los Angeles and Las Vegas daily, connecting to Pacific Surfliner Trains 579, 580, 763, 768, 777 and 796.

Buses will make intermediate stops at San Bernardino, Victorville and Barstow.

More information is available at http://www.PacificSurfliner.com/Thruway.

New Thruway Stops in Emeryville, Las Vegas

Amtrak Thruway bus services in California and Nevada have new stops in two cities.

In Emeryville, California, Thruway buses are no longer stopping in front of the Emeryville Station.

Instead, the buses have moved to the bus stalls located on the ground floor of the parking garage immediately next to the Emeryville station.

In a service advisory, Amtrak said disembarking passengers should turn left on the path just before the station to get to the bus stalls.

In Las Vegas, Thruway buses will stop at new locations. The downtown buses will board on South 1st Street across from the Bonneville Transit Center just north of Garces Avenue.

This stop is for Thruway Bus service to Bakersfield, Barstow, Mojave, Tehachapi, Filmore, Santa Paula, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria and Santa Barbara.

The South Strip Transfer Center will board buses to Bakersfield and Kingman on Gilespie Street offering service to Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and intermediate stops. Shuttle connections are available here to Kingman, Arizona.

Changes Made in Oregon Thruway Bus Schedules

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s POINT Amtrak Thruway bus service has changed some of its schedules.

Bus 5504 is now operating 1 hour and 10 minutes earlier, departing Eugene station at 7 a.m.

Bus 5506 is now running 1 hour and 5 minutes earlier, departing Eugene at 1:10 p.m. while Bus 5518 will operate five minutes earlier, departing Eugene at 11:45 am.

Bus 5503 will operate 25 minutes earlier, departing Portland station at noon while Bus 5547will operate 30 minutes earlier, departing Portland at 5 p.m.

Other POINT bus schedules from Portland are unaffected by the changes.

Multi-ride tickets are available for use on both Amtrak Cascades and POINT services between Portland and Eugene.

Thruway Service Expands in Oregon

Amtrak has begun start selling Interline Thruway Service in Oregon from Eugene to Florence and Eugene to Oakridge.

The buses are operated by Pacific Crest Lines.

Buses 8191, 8192, 8193, 8194, 8195 and 8196 will offer service between Eugene and Oakridge, with an intermediate stop at Westfir.

Buses 8612, 8613, 8614 and 8615 will offer service between Eugene and Florence, with intermediate stops at Veneta, Mapleton and Florence (Three Rivers Casino).

Flagstaff-Williams Thruway Bus Route Reinstated

Amtrak Thruway bus service has resumed between Flagstaff and Williams, Arizona.

In a service advisory, Amtrak said the service, which is provided by Route 66 Express, is timed to connect with Amtrak’s Southwest Chief stops at Flagstaff.

Passengers will be able to self-transfer to allow through booking to the Grand Canyon Railway train excursion out to Grand Canyon National Park from Williams to Grand Canyon station.

Bus Schedules Change in North Carolina; Buses Replace Trains to Atlantic City

Eastern North Carolina Thruway Service changed on Oct. 20 at certain cities with the changes in effect through Aug. 20, 2021.

In a service advisory, Amtrak said buses 6089 and 6090 are suspended while Buses 6189 and 6190 are canceled on Tuesdays.

Bus service is suspended at Goldsboro, Kinston, Havelock, Morehead City and Swansboro.

Bus service will continue at Wilmington, Jacksonville, New Bern, Greenville and Wilson.

In an unrelated development New Jersey Transit will substitute buses for trains on weekends between Philadelaphia (30th Street Station) and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The bus substitutions will continue through Dec. 18 due to work on the Delair Bridge. The work will affect rail service between 4 a.m. on Saturdays and 6:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Passengers boarding at 30th Street station will board the bus on JFK Boulevard across from the station’s 30^th Street entrance. The bus will depart at the scheduled train time.

Those traveling on a bus to 30th Street Station will disembark on  the driveway on the 30th Street side of the station right outside the doors.