Richmond Amtrak Station

I got on the train at 6:09 it drove for 10 min then stopped for a whole hour still in Richmond. This was train 718 going towards Bakersfield. The food court was 30 min long on the train. Though the server/​cashier was friendly

Train ride from Richmond to Bakersfield was pleasant, only complaint was the ride back to Richmond the conductor never mentioned the train would arrive 30 mins. late. The staff was very nice and the train was clean.

Was in the East Bay and wanted to head out to Modesto to visit my cousins for the day so I rode the train on out. I caught it in Richmond and road out to Stockton. Round trip was under 20 bucks
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The Amtrak station is just right on the other side of the Richmond Bart, its pretty easy to catch if riding the Bart out that way.
The ride was pleasant, it’s mostly along the edge of the bay, I enjoyed the views. I arrived in under an hour and a half. I forget how much I like riding trains until I’m back on one again.
Take a ride on the train sometime, sit back and enjoy the unbeaten path and views.

Lateness of the Amtrak train is a constant struggle. My husband rides with Amtrak every Saturday from Merced, Ca to Richmond, CA and for whatever reason, almost (90%)all the time he is later than is originally quoted. Several times now it has been because of work on the rail road or an accident. I understand that accidents are not under the control of Amtrak and that train behavior needs to be modified under those conditions but often there is never given any warning of the delay (which for some reason ALWAYS happens between Martinez and Richmond station). Today was especially upsetting because literally 1 minute after leaving Martinez, your staff informed the riders that there was an accident after Richmond station which would delay the arrival to Richmond. Why couldn’t this message be relayed to the riders while stopped in Martinez, so that riders could have the opportunity to make alternative plans if necessary. I could have driven to Martinez to pick up my husband if he had been told just one minute earlier and been given the opportunity to get off the train. But because YOUR staff waited until after you left Martinez, he is stuck on the train for what will likely be an hour delay.
This is absolutely ridiculous, that #1 we can not rely on the Amtrak service to be on-​time, but #2 that you do not inform you riders until it is too late about delays.
Please rectify this situation in the future.

Trains are reliable only in that you can count on there being a delay. Don’t plan on making any subsequent connections after leaving this station.

This Capitol Corridor station conveniently connects directly with Richmond’s BART terminus. It is in decent shape. It is in Richmond and has somewhat sketchy surroundings, but you should be fine if you are reasonably vigilant. Also, in the half hour or so before a Capitol Corridor tran is scheduled to arrive, there are usually ticketed passengers waiting as well, so no worries there. If you are looking to transfer from Capitol Corridor to BART, then I’d suggest doing so here. It is also a better way to get to SF from Capitol Corridor, coming from the East/​Sacramento, or vice versa.

So i went to Fresno this week too visit family and had a great time both ways coming and going. The ride was smooth and didnt feel like it was long at all. the ppl on the train where nice and they where cool when i explain i didnt print my ticket and took my last name to find my ticket. I would tell anyone traveling to Sac or fresno to take Amtrak over Greyhound its faster much cleaner and more friendly.

This is a unstaffed location, so be on the look out for unsavory types. Panhandling going on over and over again even tho there is a large sign saying its prohibited.
I love using the Capitol Corridor, so I will use this station… I just wish it was better.
It does hook right up to the BART which is really nice!

A wonderful connection (transfer point) to Richmond BART. This is similar to Millbrae Station where BART passengers can transfer to CalTrain and vice versa. Here, Amtrak passengers can transfer to BART and vice versa.
What’s up with this station being understaffed?
A lot of people are saying this station is not staffed, at least the BART Station is staffed!
I’m giving this place 3 stars because the station is shared with BART. Want to sit back and relax? Take Amtrak and transfer to other transit systems to get you to your destination!
Be prepared to know that if you are buying an Amtrak Train Ticket, the Quik-​Trak kiosk is available and it does accept debit cards as well as credit cards for payments on ticket purchases!
There is more of where this come from and until next time, reward yourself with a stress-​free travel!

ONE STAR. The stop serves it’s purpose and that’s it. I can’t count how many times I’ve been here.
The «Station» is really just a platform with two kiosks at the bottom of the stairs. The police that people are referring to on Unilocal are BART police, who are usually parked nowhere in view of the AMTRAK platform.
The morning is pleasant. A group of men with bibles greet you as you pass by. They’ve been there for years. More recently a group of Mexican women have joined on the other side of the station. They don’t say buenos dias and I’ve never seen them speaking to anyone, but they are there every morning with their pamphlets!
I’ve run into a few nut cases BESIDES the losers yelling «hey baby, you looking sexy.» The most memorable being a guy in a bloody white t-​shirt aggressively asking me to buy his ticket. Man, was he bloody! Luckily, there are a lot of nice folks headed to Sacramento/​Davis for work/​school that have your back when being bothered.
The platform at night is a different story… it is Richmond after all! You probably won’t run into any problems if you’re a guy. IF you’re a woman traveling alone… just keep in mind that if someone decides to snatch you or your purse, there’s really no one around to help you.

Amtrak– you are so underrated its ridiculous!
For a poor sucker like me who often gets stranded in the Bay Area with no car, you provide me a way of getting from The City to Sac Town in almost no time.
Well, it’s like… $ 27 for the train itself, and it does take a bit over two hours to reach there since it’ll make stops at Martinez, but overall, this is not a bad alternative to driving if you can’t find a ride yourself.
The station is connected to the BART station, in which the bathrooms there are almost always closed. The hell BART? Make sure you pee before you arrive if you can’t wait until you get on the train, because the train arrives only once every hour or so. You can buy your train ticket in one of the kiosks connecting the two, however, it does not accept cash. So bust out the plastic! Once you get on the platform, be sure to have a sweater with you! The station is not inside a building, so you will freeze if you don’t bring something warm to cover you up.
The train has two decks and during the daytime, it’s actually quite a pleasant trip with nice California scenary. But if you ride it at night, sorry, you’re out of luck. The only thing you’ll be seeing outside the window is yo’ face.
So it’s not as great as international railway systems, but it gets the job done and is relatively safe. I’ve ridden it twice already and would recommend it to anybody that doesn’t have a car.

I just posted a similar review on the BART station here and now am leaving this too.
I am giving this 3 stars because it serves it’s purpose.
Have your awareness on when you are here. You are in Central Richmond and there are some sad desperate people in Central Richmond. I would not recommend parking here. For connecting between AMTRAK and BART this is a great option. The route between the two is easy and I recommend for it’s easy … however I would not recommend late at night.

Dangerous and uncontrolled day and night. There are too many local folks hanging out there.

I had no idea that there was an indoor transfer station from BART to Amtrak. If it’s raining, I’d recommend waiting in the station until the train comes — I waited in the shelter for 20 minutes where it was cold and the roof was leaky. The arrival/​departure status board is fairly accurate though.

If it’s raining, make sure you have an umbrella or a hooded coat. The station is outside with little to no shelter. Same thing if it’s cold outside, take a coat. you will be standing for a while depending on your connection time from BART.

Richmond Amtrak and BART is a great public transportation hub: free parking, easily accessible from either I-​80 or 580, and feels perfectly safe.
I commute daily with Amtrak and occasionally with BART and both trains have reliable on-​time arrivals. I’d say twice in the past 6 months I’ve had a major delay or complete cancellation on Amtrak: some poor bastard was run over early one morning which resulted in a delay and a train was completely canceled once for a reason I can’t recall.
Safety moment: I’ve never had an issue with safety at the Richmond station, either physically or property related. The parking lot has 2 – 3 free valet guys buzzing the lot weekly from 7AM to 10PM. Plus, I often see a cop car parked either right out front or tucked off in a corner of the lot. In terms of weirdos and punk kids, I rarely see any. I do see ultra-​friendly jehovah witness’ that great me with smiles every morning and evening.
Take home point: Richmond Amtrak and BART is both safe and reliable.

This should be the station of choice for people taking Amtrak from the north with final destinations accessible by BART. I’ve known people who made this connection and says it’s wonderful and convenient.
The Amtrak portion of the station is unstaffed, although people in my family who took the train from here did get some small assistance from the BART station agent just across the corridor. The station is served by just the two commuter lines: the Capitol Corridor and the San Joaquin line. The ones that goes cross state do not stop here somehow.