ORANGE, Calif. – July 16, 2019 / -- In anticipation of one of the busiest travel weeks on the Pacific Surfliner, Amtrak is prepared to accommodate the surge of travelers with extra equipment and staff, adding approximately 9,500 additional seats to Pacific Surfliner trains over the five-day period from July 17 to July 21, 2019. In order to accommodate projected passenger demand, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner will be putting 14 additional cars into service to expand capacity on peak days (Wednesday and Sunday).
More than 160,000 people visit San Diego every year for Comic-Con International. The four-day convention has grown to be the largest of its kind, with a 460,000 square foot exhibit hall and more than 700 events, including workshops, panels, film screenings and competitions. Comic-Con is typically one of the busiest weeks on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, as fans of comic books and pop culture, industry professionals and even cosplayers fill the trains to and from the convention.
The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner travels between San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. Tickets sell out quickly, so customers are encouraged to plan ahead and book early. Extra seating is being added to select trains to increase capacity, and an additional roundtrip will be added between Los Angeles and San Diego, but peak trains will still be extremely crowded.
Last year, the Pacific Surfliner carried over 44,000 passengers to destinations between San Diego and San Luis Obispo during Comic-Con, a 40 percent increase on average daily ridership. Similar passenger counts are anticipated this year
Tips for riding at peak travel times
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Enjoy flexibility with unreserved coach tickets: Unreserved coach tickets allow customers to ride any Pacific Surfliner train from the origin station to the destination station listed on the ticket. This gives provides flexibility to take a different train than the one selected in the booking process. Because Unreserved Coach seats are available to boarding passengers on a first-come, first-served basis, trains can occasionally become crowded, especially in the summer and during peak travel periods. On the busiest trains, it may become difficult to find a seat on certain sections of the route.
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Follow @PacSurfliners on Twitter for train status alerts: Including notifications regarding which trains we expect to be particularly busy. With an Unreserved Coach ticket, customers can choose to take an earlier or later train at no charge if the one they were planning to take is expected to be crowded.
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Upgrade the experience with business class: Customers receive a guaranteed seat and extra space to stretch out, receive a complimentary snack and drink, priority boarding in San Diego, access to the Metropolitan Lounge at Los Angeles Union Station, and bonus Amtrak Guest Rewards points. The number of Business Class seats on each train is limited, so it’s best to book early before they sell out.
About the Pacific Surfliner
The Pacific Surfliner travels along a 351-mile coastal rail route through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, serving 27 stations. It is the busiest state-supported intercity passenger rail route in the United States with 24 daily trains and annual ridership of nearly 3 million. To learn more and plan a trip, visit PacificSurfliner.com, like Pacific Surfliner on Facebook, or @pacsurfliners on Twitter.
About the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency
The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency is a joint powers authority composed of rail owners, operators and planning agencies along the entire LOSSAN rail corridor. In addition to working to improve passenger rail ridership, revenue, on-time performance, operational flexibility, and safety, the LOSSAN Agency assumed management responsibility for the Pacific Surfliner service in July 2015, following the execution of an interagency transfer agreement with the state of California. For more information, visit lossan.org.
