After flying into Orange County airport in California, spent the night in nearby Costa Mesa. The next day I needed to travel to LAX as I was on call for another day. Not being in a hurry decided to take the train up to downtown Los Angeles.
I went back to SNA on the hotel van and caught a shuttle to the Santa Ana train station where I purchased a ticket for fifteen dollars. After waiting for about 15 minutes a train arrived. The upper deck had plenty of open seats that were comfortable and provided a great view of the areas that we passed through. The storage areas above the seats were a bit on the thin side so a thick or overstuffed bag wouldn't fit. No one was seated next to me so I left my bag on the floor.
The train accelerated smoothly and was very quiet. The ride was fairly soft and pleasant. It may not have been as comfortable.if the train had been full but today we had plenty of room. The station announcements were easy to understand so it would be hard to miss your station unless you were sound asleep.
The bus from Union station to LAX was seven dollars and took less than a half an hour. The trip took longer than the shuttle van would have but we didn't have to sit in rush hour traffic nor did we have to go through security as on a plane. In the past I had taken a United Express flight but no flights were available today and I don't know if the route is being flown anymore.
