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In my experience taking both, Greyhounds are significantly faster and far less comfortable. Maybe it's different in other places in the country, but this was my

In my experience taking both, Greyhounds are significantly faster and far less comfortable. Maybe it's different in other places in the country, but this was my experience in coastal California: Greyhound buses run more-or-less on time. The routes are direct, they're predictable, and they will take you where you want to go. They also don't have a dining car, spacious bathrooms, room to walk around and stretch your legs, etc. If somebody has diarrhea, everybody on that bus is going to know it and smell it. Amtrak is more comfortable in every way. It's also usually late, and subject to delays because of low rail priority. You can't really count on it for anything other than "it'll leave eventually" and "it'll get there eventually". While on the train, it's really quite pleasant - as long as you don't care about arriving when the schedule said you would.

saagarjha 2y ago
I had essentially the same experience–I did SJC to SBA a few times a year when I was in college (which for the non-Californians here, is a destination that does not really have an airport you would want to use). I took Greyhound the first few times and then switched to Amtrak, even though it took 2-3 hours longer. I'll take that every time just by being able to get up and walk around. And the views coming in around Point Conception as the sun sets are priceless :)
- petemill 2y ago
  Why wouldn't you want to use the SBA airport? It's lovely, scenic and has quite a few routes and airlines these days.
  - saagarjha 2y ago
    I would love to but it was (is?) quite expensive to fly out of. I think if you book far enough in advance the prices are within a factor of two or so but I generally didn't bother. The one time I did use it was when Google flew me out for an onsite on two day's notice–so I can confirm that it is an excellent airport, with security that takes all of two minutes and a really pretty 45 minute flight to SFO–but the final bill for that roundtrip was something like $400. I remember the recruiter being surprised at the cost.
pipe2devnull 2y ago
In my limited experience with Greyhound, the busses are notoriously late. I’ve taken it only 2 times. The first time was around an hour late and the second was running about 5-6 hours late.
nordsieck 2y ago
> Amtrak is more comfortable in every way. I can easily believe that trains are more spacious and the seating is more insulated from odors. But my experience riding trains is that they sway/shake obnoxiously while going around curves. Where as busses like Megabus are a very smooth ride the entire way. > room to walk around and stretch your legs My experience with busses is that there are somewhat frequent stops where people are encouraged to walk and use the bathroom. Which isn't a complete fix, but it does serve to substantially mitigate those problems.
- actionfromafar 2y ago
  Funny, I get sick on buses easily but not at all on trains.
christophergray 2y ago
I've attempted to take the Greyhound four times. Twice they gave me the wrong address to take it from. Once from Irvine, where I was told to go to a new transit center that wasn't open yet. The other time from San Luis Obispo, which has no actual transit center, although it has a train station, and county buses leave from city hall. I was told the Greyhound left from a Texaco station right off the highway. I made it out of Irvine the same day (hitchhiked), but I was a day late out of San Luis Obispo (took the train), and had to reschedule a connecting flight.

saagarjha 2y ago

I had essentially the same experience–I did SJC to SBA a few times a year when I was in college (which for the non-Californians here, is a destination that does not really have an airport you would want to use). I took Greyhound the first few times and then switched to Amtrak, even though it took 2-3 hours longer. I'll take that every time just by being able to get up and walk around. And the views coming in around Point Conception as the sun sets are priceless :)

petemill 2y ago
Why wouldn't you want to use the SBA airport? It's lovely, scenic and has quite a few routes and airlines these days.
- saagarjha 2y ago
  I would love to but it was (is?) quite expensive to fly out of. I think if you book far enough in advance the prices are within a factor of two or so but I generally didn't bother. The one time I did use it was when Google flew me out for an onsite on two day's notice–so I can confirm that it is an excellent airport, with security that takes all of two minutes and a really pretty 45 minute flight to SFO–but the final bill for that roundtrip was something like $400. I remember the recruiter being surprised at the cost.

pipe2devnull 2y ago

In my limited experience with Greyhound, the busses are notoriously late. I’ve taken it only 2 times. The first time was around an hour late and the second was running about 5-6 hours late.

nordsieck 2y ago

> Amtrak is more comfortable in every way. I can easily believe that trains are more spacious and the seating is more insulated from odors. But my experience riding trains is that they sway/shake obnoxiously while going around curves. Where as busses like Megabus are a very smooth ride the entire way. > room to walk around and stretch your legs My experience with busses is that there are somewhat frequent stops where people are encouraged to walk and use the bathroom. Which isn't a complete fix, but it does serve to substantially mitigate those problems.

actionfromafar 2y ago
Funny, I get sick on buses easily but not at all on trains.

christophergray 2y ago

I've attempted to take the Greyhound four times. Twice they gave me the wrong address to take it from. Once from Irvine, where I was told to go to a new transit center that wasn't open yet. The other time from San Luis Obispo, which has no actual transit center, although it has a train station, and county buses leave from city hall. I was told the Greyhound left from a Texaco station right off the highway. I made it out of Irvine the same day (hitchhiked), but I was a day late out of San Luis Obispo (took the train), and had to reschedule a connecting flight.