When Lisa and I have done long train trips, we start by going to Emeryville the night before and staying in a hotel within walking distance of the Emeryville train station -- the Hilton Garden Inn -- where I have always had enough points to stay, because the room cost was more than I wanted to pay.
The key logistical point here is that my mechanic's shop is a short walk to the Fremont/Centerville Amtrak station, which is not the Fremont BART station, and indeed the two are miles apart. Yes, I could take a taxi between them, but I'd rather not do so. Also, the Emeryville Amtrak station is not a BART stop, and again, I'd need a taxi. Transit in the Bay Area is not very well joined up. There are a bunch of independent systems that don't touch each other, or at least not very often. As it happens, The Capitol Corridor (Amtrak) and BART do actually connect at two other points (Oakland Coliseum and Richmond). If my mechanic's shop was closer to BART, walking to BART, then taking it to Richmond to catch the train, might work.
no subject
The key logistical point here is that my mechanic's shop is a short walk to the Fremont/Centerville Amtrak station, which is not the Fremont BART station, and indeed the two are miles apart. Yes, I could take a taxi between them, but I'd rather not do so. Also, the Emeryville Amtrak station is not a BART stop, and again, I'd need a taxi. Transit in the Bay Area is not very well joined up. There are a bunch of independent systems that don't touch each other, or at least not very often. As it happens, The Capitol Corridor (Amtrak) and BART do actually connect at two other points (Oakland Coliseum and Richmond). If my mechanic's shop was closer to BART, walking to BART, then taking it to Richmond to catch the train, might work.