Thruway Motorcoach

Thruway Motorcoach is Amtrak's system of Amtrak-owned intercity coaches, locally contracted transit buses, through-ticketed local bus routes and taxi services to connect Amtrak train stations to areas not served by its railroads. Train and Thruway Motorcoach tickets are purchased together from Amtrak for the length of a passenger's journey, and the connections are timed for convenient transfers between the two services. In addition to providing connecting service to unserved areas, some Thruway Motorcoaches operate as redundant service along well-established passenger rail corridors to add extra capacity.

By California law, passengers may only travel on Amtrak's network of Thruway Motorcoaches in California when connecting to or from an Amtrak train. [" [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Title_Image_Copy_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1178294137179&ssid=10972 California Thruway Motorcoaches] ." "Amtrak". Accessed July 27, 2008.]

California has the most extensive network of Thruway Motorcoaches in the nation. Fact|date=February 2007

Amtrak uses thruway motorcoaches when normal rail service encounters disruptions. [" [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Title_Image_Copy_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1080080554556&ssid=192 Thruway Motorcoach Service and Accessibility] ." "Amtrak". Accessed July 27, 2008.]

Thruway Motorcoach routes

Northeast

*Philadelphia to Atlantic City (through-ticketed NJ TRANSIT Atlantic City Line rail route)
*Newport News to Virginia Beach
*New York to LaGuardia Airport/JFK Airport (through-ticketed New York Airport Service route)
*Portland, ME to Bangor (through-ticketed Concord Trailways route)
*Boston to Newburyport/Portsmouth (through-ticketed C&J Trailways route)
*New London to Foxwoods Casino (through-ticketed SEAT route)
*Boston to Manchester/Concord/Berlin, NH (through-ticketed Concord Trailways route)
*Boston to Manchester/Concord/Littleton, NH (through-ticketed Concord Trailways route)
*Wilmington to Dover/Salisbury (through-ticketed Carolina Trailways route)
*Washington to Charlottesville (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Buffalo to Jamestown (through-ticketed Coach USA route)
*Westport to Lake Placid

East

*Jacksonville to Lakeland via Ocala
*DeLand to Daytona Beach (thruway service is a taxicab provided by Southern Komfort)
*Orlando/Tampa to St. Petersburg/Fort Myers
*High Point to Winston-Salem (through-ticketed Winston-Salem Connector route)
*Charlottesville to Richmond
*Chicago/Indianapolis to Louisville (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Toledo to East Lansing via Detroit, Ann Arbor

Midwest

*Carbondale to St. Louis
*New Orleans to Baton Rouge
*Battle Creek to Flint (through-ticketed Indian Trails route)
*Kalamazoo to St. Ignace (through-ticketed Indian Trails route)
*Indianapolis to Galesburg/Davenport (through-ticketed Burlington Trailways route)
*Kansas City to Oklahoma City via Tulsa (through-ticketed Jefferson Lines route)
*Milwaukee to Oshkosh/Wausau (through-ticketed Lamers Bus Lines route)
*Milwaukee to Houghton
*Chicago to Rockford/Madison (through-ticketed Coach USA route)
*St.Paul-Minneapolis to Duluth (through-ticketed Jefferson Lines route)

West

*Seattle to Vancouver, BC (through-ticketed Western Trailways Route route)
*Salt Lake City to Boise (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Salt Lake City to Las Vegas (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Galesburg to Springfield
*Denver to Colorado Springs/Pueblo (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Denver to Glenwood Springs (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Williams Junction to Williams ( [http://www.thetrain.com Grand Canyon Railroad connection] )
*Flagstaff to Grand Canyon (through-ticketed [http://www.openroadtours.com Open Road Tours] route)
*Flagstaff to Phoenix (through-ticketed [http://www.openroadtours.com Open Road Tours] or Greyhound route)
*Flagstaff to Sedona (through-ticketed [http://www.openroadtours.com Open Road Tours] route)
*Raton to Denver (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Kingman to Las Vegas
*Albuquerque to El Paso (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Lamy to Santa Fe
*Los Angeles to Las Vegas (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Longview to Shreveport
*Longview to Houston/Galveston
*San Antonio to Laredo (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*San Antonio to Harlingen/Brownsville (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Temple to Kileen/Fort Hood
*Oklahoma City to Kansas City via Tulsa (through-ticketed Jefferson Lines route)
*Houston to Galveston (through-ticketed Kerrville Bus route)

Pacific Northwest

*Seattle to Bellingham and Vancouver, BC
*Seattle to Vancouver Island/Victoria, BC (through-ticketed Victoria Clipper ferry route)
*Portland to Eugene-Springfield
*Spokane to Boise (through-ticketed Northwestern Trailways route)
*Seattle to Wenatchee/Spokane (through-ticketed Northwestern Trailways route)
*Portland to Pendleton/Boise (through-ticketed Greyhound route)
*Portland to Astoria
*Portland/Albany to Corvallis/Newport
*Chemult to Bend/Redomd
*Ontario to Eugene/Coos Bay (through-ticketed Porter Stage route)
*Klamath Falls to Ashland

California

*1A: Bakersfield to Los Angeles/Santa Ana/San Diego
*1B: Bakersfield to Long Beach/San Pedro
*1C: Bakersfield to Simi Valley
*3: Sacramento/Stockton to Marysville/Oroville/Chico/Corning/Red Bluff/Redding/Medford
*6: Stockton to Dublin/San Jose
*7: Martinez to Vallejo/Napa/Santa Rosa/Ukiah/Willits/Eureka/Arcata/McKinleyville
*9: Bakersfield to Barstow/Las Vegas
*10: Bakersfield to Santa Barbara
*12: Bakersfield to Victorville
*15: Merced to Mariposa/Yosemite
*18A: Hanford to Santa Maria
*18B: Hanford to Visalia
*19: Bakersfield to San Bernardino/Hemet/Palm Springs/Indio
*20: Sacramento to Roseville/Rocklin/Auburn/Colfax/Soda Springs/Truckee/Reno/Sparks
*20c: Sacramento to Placerville/South Lake Tahoe
*21: San Jose to Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo/Santa Maria/Santa Barbara
*23: Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe (Carson City service stopped 2006-11-30)
*34: San Francisco to Stockton
*35: Santa Cruz to San Jose (connects with 6)
*37: Merced to Monterey (Route discontinued effective 2008-05-05)
*99: Emeryville to San Francisco

ubstitution for Amtrak trains

Thruway Motorcoaches are also substituted in place of an Amtrak California train on the following unnumbered segments:

*Oakland - San Jose
*Van Nuys, Los Angeles to central Los Angeles (one southbound trip)
*central Los Angeles to Santa Barbara
*Klamath Falls to Pasco (northbound/eastbound only, instead of train connection between #14 and #28)

Thruway Motorcoaches are can also be used as an alternative to the Amtrak Downeaster on the following segments:

*Boston (North Station) to Dover, Exeter, or Durham/UNH - one northbound (Bus 8619) and one southbound (Bus 8618) (C&J bus)- This segment can be reserved through Amtrak ticketing systems
*Boston (South Station) to Portland, ME - Portland/Boston Flexpass is valid on Concord Coach or Downeaster runs between Portland and Boston -no reservations required- (The Downeaster serves Boston-North Station, while Concord Coach serves Boston-South Station)

Replaced Thruway Motorcoach service

Thruway Motorcoach service has been replaced by through-ticketed local transit on the following California segments:

*San Jose - Santa Cruz: Highway 17 Express
*San Jose - Monterey: Monterey-Salinas Transit Line 55
*Auburn - Grass Valley: Gold County Stage Line 5X

References