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The Coastal Starlight runs from Union Station in DTLA to Jack London Square in Oakland. From there, it's a quick walk to BART to get into San Francisco - no bus required.

That being said, the trip takes 13 hours and some change, depending where in SF you're trying to go - which would be blown out of the water by HSR.

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That must be new. That wasn't available as of like we years ago or so.

That rail route has ran continuously since 1971: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Starlight. The transbay tube connecting Oakland to San Francisco via BART opened in 1974.

it's worth noting that coast starlight's once-a-day-each-way schedule sort of makes it limited as a commuter rail option.

Its too long and slow to be commuter rail anyways. The Bay Area -> LA segment takes about 12 hours (of a total 35ish), if its on time (its often multiple hours late). Even if it was never late and left every hour, it wouldnt be a very practical commute.

It is fun if you enjoy trains though! Take it if you have the time.

+1. I took it once, and it was a wonderful time. Jump for the business class seats, they aren't much more expensive and are quite nice.

But yes - absolutely terrible from a commuter perspective.

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