Coaster Commuter Rail

Best way to commute in SD without a doubt. All employees are very helpful and surprisingly friendly (especially if you’re a regular from what I’ve witnessed). Regular security walk throughs provide an enhanced sense of security and safety. Also I calculated that if you commute for an an hour+ to and from work, you get an extra MONTH added to your year of productive time that you would otherwise spend focused on driving! Chew on that.

Is it really necessary at 10:30 at night to lay on the horn constantly through town I know they have to hit the horn at certain times but it seems they lay on it excessively

Wish SD Coaster went to airport. Take a bunch of traffic off the highways and help clean the SD air which is getting polluted and unhealthy to breathe.

I bought online two tickets for thanksgiving week. I went in an Amtrak train as I use to and they didn’t accept my tickets. They changed their policie on the same Monday saying they won’t accept coaster tickets on Amtrak trains for the holiday week. Of course I didn’t see it and they aren’t willing to refund my money. Next time please write these things more days in advance and put it in several places in a visible way on your website so all we know the changes.
The costumer service in coaster is really bad.

The credit card machine does not work. The asshole on the train didn’t believe me. Tried both machines. It’s a $ 300 ticket.

This station is very easy to use and close to my workplace. I have dropped my husband off here for him to take the coaster down to work many times. It’s very convenient for us to carpool and he takes the coaster the rest of the way down to work. There’s a shuttle his work has that picks him up from the coaster station at his stop so there’s no need for a car for him. Some days, he just drives home if he has to work late, but it’s very convenient for us. Tons of parking, though on Del Mar Opening Day, it was tough to find a spot.
Tickets can be purchased on your phone or kiosks, pretty convenient!

Right to LIttle Italy downtown — and of course you can walk anywhere from there. Retirement fares are the bomb!

Really wanted to take to coaster on a Saturday to del mar fair. Their schedule sucks there are definitely not enough times offered to many gaps between especially on Saturday. Now we have to drive. I’m sure more people would use coaster if ran every hour on weekends. Boo transit system

Scenic rail service between San Diego and Oceanside CA with stops at the communities along the way. While primarily for commuter tourist and locals also take advantage of this convenient and inexpensive transport. The cars are clean and well maintained. The staff is helpful. Relax and enjoy the ride.

The lack of coordination between rail lines makes using Metrolink Trains to Oceanside from Orange County to switch to the Coaster to continue south a risky proposition. Tonight many people failed to catch the Coaster because they simply couldn’t walk/​run fast enough to make it.

Horribly inconvenient weekend schedule fir anyone wanting to travel up from San Diego and back in the same day. Travels slower than the San Diego Trolley or Amtrak.

I have taken the coaster many many times, from going to padres games, date night in down town or old town, the Del Mar Races, bar hopping in Encinitas, visiting a friend in PB… It truly is the best way to get around San Diego. Mainly because you can drink on the train, it’s $ 5.50 to go from carlsbad village to down town, takes about 40 minutes which is as long or shorter than what it would take in a car with traffic.
It’s cheap, easy, relaxing, you can start the party early, and you have amazing views of the ocean on your way up and down. What’s not to love? And now you can buy your ticket on the app/​online and skip the line, even better!
The only thing I would improve is later train times on the weekend, but we still make it work :)

I love that there’s a lot of parking here and for the most part very easy to access. The only thing that confuses me is I’m not always sure what side of the tracks I’m supposed to be on & have missed a train due to this which as a result wasted our $ 24 for 2 tickets because we ended up having to drive or miss our engagement!

Printed and website schedule times are confusing and wrong. On Sunday, it said they only have 7 trains running. But that’s not correct, they have more trains not listed. Pissed me off as when I thought the next train wouldn’t be for 3 hours, so I took the 101 bus to Oceanside. It was messed up that about 30 minutes into the ride, and about the half way point, I see a north bound train. WTF. Get your schedules straight people.

What a terrific means of transportation between North County and Downtown San Diego, and points between!

The pros:
It’s easy to purchase tickets from the Ticket Vending Machines, online, or through the new mobile apps.
You can avoid the «parking lot» otherwise known as I-​5, and the associated stress of driving.
With the cost of gas these days it’s cheaper than driving. (Especially if you are age 60+ and qualify for the Senior rate — $ 5.50 Round Trip between Oceanside and Old Town or Downtown.)
Convenient connections to other public transit — Sprinter, Breeze, MTS.
There is drinking water and a restroom at the front of each car.
Food and beverages are allowed.
Free Wi-​Fi. And it works!
There is plenty of free parking at the Oceanside Transit Center, if you are headed south.
The cons:
It’s public transportation so it can be crowded and passengers can get noisy. Very noisy.
Limited schedule on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays. Less than half the number of trains that run Monday through Friday.
Passengers boarding mid-​route may have difficulty finding seats and there is no passage between cars.
Overall I much prefer taking the Coaster to driving. So far my experience has been that it runs on schedule, or within a few minutes. It stops at the Santa Fe Depot in Downtown San Diego, which is within easy walking distance of the Embarcadero, Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy. The Old Town Transit Center is just across the street from Old Town State Park. I would very much like to see one or two more trains added on the weekends and holidays — it would be so much more convenient and ridership seems to merit it.

Taking the train from Del Mar to see a SD Padres game can be great! — if you don’t necessarily want to get back home OK.
Being a commuter train, they don’t necessarily run trains late at night — but for nights when the Padres are playing at PETCO, they run special, extra trains. It’s even on their official schedule! (link here:
)
It’s a great, scenic ride down the coast. There’s just one quick connection on the trolley to get you to PETCO Park and you are at the game! Don’t have to worry about traffic, parking, or any of that!
However, after the game and the fireworks, we hustled back to the depot only to find that the train had ALREADY LEFT. It says specifically on their schedule: «Train departs 50 minutes after end of game or fireworks show,» and we made it there in just under *30* minutes from the end of the fireworks. We weren’t the only ones left behind, either… dozens of other groups were also hanging around the train station looking lost, waiting, or asking about the train.
We tried to call and complain, but there’s only answering machines to speak to after-​hours. After waiting around the station for another 45 minutes to make sure the train wasn’t just running late, we gave up. It cost us over $ 70 to take a taxi back to the Del Mar station. Wish we’d had just driven to the game and paid for parking instead!
I called back later during business hours, and they said we had to write a letter and send in our tickets in order to give us a refund. After a few weeks, they finally sent me back two free tickets to ride the Coaster again. WTF!?! I was supposed to be given a *refund*. I don’t live in San Diego; what am I gonna do with free Coaster tickets? Even if I did live in SD, I would not be taking the Coaster again after that experience!

Still 5 stars! 8 of us all took the Coaster from Carlsbad to Santa Fe Station. How can it not be 5 stars to not have to drive all the cars to accommodate that many of us and then find parking, praying the whole time we don’t lose any out of town family guests! Clean, safe, fun and the view is such a de-​stresser! Great people watching– for everyone in our car anyway — to say my family is entertaining is an understatement. We had a couple people change seats to sit closer to us just to witness the silliness.
Bonus… they allow adult beverages, as long as you behave! or at least entertain the other passengers :-)

I’m a fan of trains, in general, and the Coaster is great. We can catch it in Oceanside after taking the Sprinter from Escondido and it’s handy to get back and forth from downtown San Diego.
The times I’ve ridden the Coaster, it has been very on time and they don’t wait around for people! the biggest problem I see is that the schedule is too limited. Example is Saturdays they return north at 6:50 pm and then the next train north isn’t until 10:45 pm! That’s a huge gap! I can see the two hour gaps, even though I think one hour would make a lot more sense, but if you wanted to go downtown for dinner, forget it. Not going to happen unless I don’t want to arrive home until after midnight!
The trains are nice. They have decent bathrooms. I feel secure on them and they are continually improving the tracks. It’s a great concept and one sorely needed, but I’d seriously use it a lot more often if they had more trains running a tighter schedule. I hope they work on this!

I love train travel, something about its nostalgic time of exploration just excites me. The coaster is a great way to explore San Diego without having the added pains of driving. I have discovered some new places and would not have if I drove to my destination.
I appreciate the amenities the coaster provides. The train is usually clean, roomy enough for all my cargo, has a bathroom, tables to eat or work on, free WIFI (which i never have time to use because the stops are so fast or I get distracted by the beautiful scenery) you are even allowed to moderately drink alcohol.
The conductors, staff, and security officers are friendly (well at least to me).
I always double check the schedule of the train with whomever staff is standing outside and they are always helpful about that. The security officers make me feel safe riding on the train at night and day because that is when most of the action takes place (drunken bums getting kicked off). Don’t get freaked most of the people are normal commuters that keep to themselves.
The prices are affordable. Round trip for adults 6 & older is $ 8 – 11 depending on which 3 zones you are riding from and out of. One way tickets are $ 4 – 5.50. Kids under 5 are free.
Discounts are given to seniors, disabled, medicare, military, and students of course. This also Includes free transfer to SPRINTER or BREEZE all day. For commuters the monthly pass is $ 120 – 165 for adults, $ 82 youth, senior $ 41 sold at Albertsons.

The coaster has helped me get to a lot of events hassle free like to the fair and races at Del Mar (saves me the $ and burden of parking), to the beaches (saves me from cleaning sand out of my car), to old town for the tequila tastings and Dia De La Muerta (day of the dead), to eat and join in the Festa in Little Italy (food coma), to the street fairs in Carlsbad /​Encinitas (saves my car from getting dinged) and other assorted events Downtown.
I hope that in the near future more coaster stations and trains are added to expand service to the airport, balboa park, and inland locations. Yes, there is the SPRINTER for service areas inland in NOCO but we need more expansion to encompass most of San Diego.
I also wish they would extend their hours later on the weekend for people who want to go to concerts or party downtown (to save us all from drunk driving/​drivers) although this probably won’t happen because who wants to clean up potential vomit, trash, deal with disorderly conduct or pay for that type of security. Oh well wishful thinking. I am just happy we have an efficient train system running in San Diego!
The coaster stations are clean, and provide bathrooms, and snack stalls. Parking is available free of charge at all stations except downtown San Diego at Santa Fe Depot, where metered parking is available.
At the Oceanside Transit Center overnight parking is allowed for up to 72 hours except in the new parking structure. (over 72hours up to 2 weeks a parking permit is required from a NCTD officer) At the other stations overnight parking is allowed (except at Old Town) for up to 24 hours only, no long term parking is allowed. Vehicles appearing to be abandoned are subject to tow.
Drivers leave autos at COASTER stations and transit centers «at their own risk.» NCTD is not responsible for vandalism or theft.

Sure, it’s clean and makes some convenient stops (for me at least), but the times are terrible. Depending on your direction, the Coaster stops at 7am, 8am, and then 10am. Those are some pretty inconvenient times for morning commutes. The afternoon is better with close to hourly departures.
The wifi on board is also really spotty. Might as well bring a book.