Update 3-8-25: Three groups have been forming. All groups depart from Emeryville.
There is limited space available on the Wed-Mon group.
The Thu-Sun group is waitlisted only..
The Thu-Mon group is waitlisted only.
Other date combinations don't look likely at this time.
Take Amtrak from the Bay Area to Reno for as low as $46 round-trip – but you must act quickly! (Price is as of 3/8/25 and is subject to change, per the prevailing Amtrak fare at the time of booking.)
Amtrak is offering a discount of 60% off its already low fares for a group of 8 to 14 passengers traveling together on the same reservation. We’re hoping to help make that happen. We’ll survey interested folks about their preferred dates of travel, and when we have enough for a group, we’ll make the arrangements.
Schedule and Stations
The Amtrak California Zephyr train schedule is:
TO RENO
Emeryville
Reno
8:25 am
3:27 pm
FROM RENO
Reno
Emeryville
9:24 am
4:57 pm
The train is frequently late, but most of the time arrives within an hour of the scheduled time. Occasionally there is a more severe delay of up to a few hours or more.
The Emeryville Amtrak station has station agents, an indoor waiting room with coffee and snacks for purchase, and restrooms. Parking is available at $11 a day. Or take the free Emery-Go-Round bus from the MacArthur BART station. The Reno Amtrak station is an easily walkable three blocks from the Silver Legacy hotel.
The Journey
Ingu took the train last January to do a site visit. He reports:
The trip was extremely comfortable. The seats are spacious and though not lie-flat, they have a steep recline and great for napping. The views are impressive going over the Sierras, and there’s an observation car outfitted to enjoy the scenery that’s open to everyone. You can enjoy a fully-serviced lunch in the dining car for $25 including tax, or visit the café, or bring your own lunch. There are a couple of stops where you can get off the train to stretch your legs for a few minutes, but there’s really little reason to. The seven hours goes by surprisingly fast.
The downsides from Ingu’s trip. On the way to Reno the café lost its refrigeration, so they weren’t able to serve anything besides pre-packaged snacks, like chips and cookies. But it didn’t matter much, as the sit-down lunch was fine. On the return trip the train left Reno 4 hours late! But Amtrak updated me by text every 30 minutes starting early in the morning, so I just hung out at the hotel until the noon check-out time. And then Amtrak gave us free food to make up for the delay. Fortunately, I wasn’t in any hurry, so it all worked out fine. By the time we reached Richmond, we were only 3 hours late.
How to Reserve a Group Fare
Read through everything here.
Register for the weekend, if you have not already.
Fill out the form linked at the bottom of this page.
Please fill out the form only if you are committed to taking the train with this offer. Note that if you are planning to help set up or work the registration desk on Thursday afternoon, you should plan to arrive on Wednesday.
In order for this to work, we need your cooperation. Once we book a group, it cannot be changed. Even though your ticket may say “refundable,” please treat it as if it is not. If you cancel your trip, you will increase the cost for everyone else, and we will expect you to pay for the difference, which may be considerably higher than the price of your ticket.
Amtrak fares for October are very low at this time, but they will increase substantially and unpredictably over time. The sooner we can book a group, the greater the chance we can grab the low fares. If you are interested, you should let us know as soon as possible. Once we have a group, you will be notified. At that time, it is imperative that you reply and make your deposit right away. If we do not hear from you within 24 hours, we will book the group without you.
We will add a 5% service charge to cover the processing fees that Sundance will encounter through the process of booking a group. Also note that if the fares go up between the time we ask for your deposit and the time we buy the tickets, we will ask everyone to pay their share of the difference.
If you are good with all of the above, then click on the button to fill out your preference form.
