Amtrak wants riders’ thoughts on trips to Sacramento

The Amtrak San Joaquin rail service is seeking input from Merced County residents on how to modify its schedule to accommodate weekday riders headed to Sacramento for business purposes.

Amtrak is circulating a survey asking riders where they are likely to begin their trip, what area in Sacramento they prefer to visit, how frequently they visit Sacramento, and what times would work best for arriving and departing Sacramento.

Depending on the results of the survey, Amtrak San Joaquin may add an additional daily round trip to Sacramento, said Jose Ramirez, a contracted consultant for Amtrak.

Amtrak runs two daily train trips on the San Joaquin service from Bakersfield to Sacramento. Additional daily trips take riders from various locations in the San Joaquin Valley to Oakland and Stockton, said Dan Leavitt, a manager of regional initiatives for the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority.

Though there is no hard deadline by which the survey must be returned, Ramirez encouraged people to fill it out and return it as soon as possible.

“We’d like more response from Merced residents,” he said.

Input from the survey will be presented the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority later this month.

Amtrak estimates the San Joaquin service is the fifth-busiest in the nation and accommodates 1.2 million passengers a year.

To fill out the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/KGB7GKZ.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Amtrak wants riders’ thoughts on trips to Sacramento."