“California Dreamin’” was one of the iconic songs of the sixties. It was about an Angelino enduring a New York winter and dreaming about his warm hometown (the inverse of the scenario in Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”). Barry McGuire recorded the original version in 1963, and the 1966 version by The Mamas & the Papas with Bud Shank’s flute solo defined the song. Nostalgia aside, there seems to be a new custom in part of the Golden State: “California Starvin’” as practiced on Amtrak’s San Joaquin trains between Bakersfield at the south end and the Bay Area and Sacramento at the north end. 

For the past two months, the trains have not offered any food or beverage sales. On the newly delivered Siemens Venture cars, there are shelves with “free” snacks, cans of soda, and small bottles of water. The snacks consist of small bags of chips, pretzels, crackers, and, sometimes, packaged cookies. The soda and water are kept at room temperature, and there is no ice to cool them. There is also no coffee or anything else to drink. The situation on the older, bilevel “Amtrak California” equipment is not much different. At one time, the “California Cafe” cars that appear in the consists once served meals as well as snacks. The tables where riders once ate those meals and the lounge area where other passengers consumed snacks and sips are still there, because the furniture is built in. The area where attendants once heated and sold the food and beverages now lies empty and unused. Instead, the booths serve merely as places to put the boxes that hold cans of warm soda, bottles of warm water, and small bags of snacking material that now comprise the only food offered to riders these days.

The move is not popular, and that includes with the train crews. One crew member said: “Salty snacks, warm water and warm soda is all they think you need.” That employee also noted that 15 employees lost their jobs and others have taken a $2.00 per hour pay cut since Cinco de Mayo. In particular, the lack of coffee and the lack of ice to cool the water and soda have been sore points.

Did the local operating authority take the food away?

It appears that the agency that runs the San Joaquin trains is responsible for the loss of food and beverage service. Other corridors in California do not appear to be affected, even though many of the trips taken on those corridors are shorter than on the San Joaquin trains. I learned that firsthand on Monday, June 23, when I rode from Simi Valley to Los Angeles Union Station. Some Amtrak Surfliner trains honor Metrolink tickets, and I rode on Train 790, which runs from Santa Barbara to San Diego. The equipment on that train consisted of bilevel “Surfliner” cars. The train had a well-stocked snack and beverage inventory, and those items were not sold at a simple snack counter. Rather, that train carried a full-length Superliner observation-lounge car like the ones on long-distance trains.

The entity that oversees the San Joaquin trains, as well as the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) commuter trains between San José and Stockton is the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA). Its offices are located in Stockton, and it also oversees connecting bus service. We asked the SJJPA about the reason for eliminating food and drink on the San Joaquin trains, and for specific information regarding any potential claim that the move was made to save money: information about the revenue generated by such sales and about the cost of goods sold and of paying the attendants who used to sell those items. At this writing, the authority has not responded to our inquiry.

An inconvenient misconnect, too

For the most part, the San Joaquin corridor is an isolated service. Trains run through the Central Valley in California, and all of them terminate at Bakersfield, where all passengers going toward Los Angeles must change for connecting buses for a ride that lasts from approximately two hours and 20 minutes to three hours. At the north end, all except one daily frequency terminate at Oakland, in the East Bay. Connections are available at Martinez for the Capital Corridor between Sacramento and San José, through Oakland and Emeryville.

The only connection for passengers on the San Joaquin line to and from a long-distance train has been broken or, at least, is no longer recognized. Only one daily train in each direction does not continue north from Stockton to the East Bay but goes to Sacramento instead. There were previously two daily trains in each direction that served Lodi and Sacramento, but now the only one left was originally scheduled to connect with the Coast Starlight at Sacramento to and from points north as far as Seattle.

Northbound, Train 703 leaves Bakersfield at 6:12 PM and is scheduled to arrive at Sacramento at 11:35 PM, in time to catch Train 14, which is scheduled to leave at 11:49 PM. That was a reliable connection in the past, but now Amtrak advises passengers to take Train 719, which leaves two hours earlier, to Stockton. There is a connecting bus at Stockton, but it is scheduled to arrive at Sacramento at 10:10 PM; an hour and 30 minutes before Train 14 is scheduled to leave there. The result is that, instead of a two-seat ride on an all-rail route, riders now are required to put up with a trip time that is two hours longer, with a bus bridge. In theory, a rider could book a segment on Train 703 and another on Train 14 separately, but that would be risky.

Southbound, the former connection form Train 11 to Train 702 does not exist at all. Train 11 is scheduled to arrive at Sacramento at 6:28 AM. Train 702, the only train from there to Bakersfield, now leaves at 6:26 AM; two minutes before Train 11 is scheduled to arrive. In theory, the trains could connect. The running time of Train 14 to Chico, the next stop north of Sacramento, is an hour and 48 minutes. For Train 11 in the other direction, it’s two hours and 14 minutes—26 minutes longer. Still, Amtrak will not recognize a connection that is now considered impossible under the advertised schedule. While Train 702 is scheduled to arrive at Bakersfield at 11:57 AM, passengers bound for the San Joaquin line must now take a bus to Stockton at 7:15 AM and spend an extra two hours traveling—the same as their northbound counterparts.

Could Amtrak avoid putting its riders through that additional hassle and longer travel time and negotiate new schedules with BNSF for the San Joaquin line (which runs on former Santa Fe track) and Union Pacific (the Coast Starlight and the line from south of Stockton to Sacramento, which run on former Southern Pacific lines)? It seems that it would be feasible to do so, and it depends on how much freight is now running on the old Shasta Route and the segment between Stockton and Sacramento.

Still, it would seem worth the effort for a governing authority like Amtrak or Caltrans (California’s Department of Transportation) to work out a plan to restore the connection between the San Joaquin Valley and the Coast Starlight at Sacramento. Even if San Joaquin riders don’t have much to eat or drink, they would at least be able to spend less time traveling and avoid a three-seat ride with a bus segment in the middle. Of course, if they could get their food and drink back, that would be good, too.

We also reached out to Amtrak for comment on the issues raised in this story but have not heard back at this writing. If Amtrak responds, we will update this story to tell you what Amtrak said.