Recent content by lepearso

The Tennessee Association of Railroad Passengers will hold a Rail Passenger Meeting on Saturday, August 18, 2018, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., at Casey Jones Village in Jackson, Tennessee. We cordially invite rail passengers from Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi to join us. The price to...

I rode in business class on the Crescent last year in April. I was expecting a car with better seats, but it was an everyday Amfleet II. It wasn't worth the extra money to have complimentary coffee or soda. Perhaps they're removing it because passengers like me don't enjoy paying more without...

Yep! Amtrak made their move into the new station earlier this week! Greyhound should arrive in late spring or early summer and, with that, Thruway connection to Nashville and Montgomery! There's an article and photos on the TARP website at www.tarprail.org.

Not yet. My most recent update was 4 weeks ago. This is what I was told: The Amtrak/Greyhound facility is down to the punch list. When the transit authority - the entity that owns the building - does a final walk-through, Amtrak will relocate the ticket office. At that point, the old ticket...

I drove down to Birmingham last weekend to see the progress on the station. The transit center is about 95% completed and should be in business by the end of June. I understand that Megabus will stop in this location and that Olivia's transit cafe will open at about the same time. The...

We're getting closer and closer. According to AL.com the Transit Center and Megabus stop will go into service in early June. They were supposed to be in place on May 20th, but the city postponed the opening date until all punch list items are finished. A new cafe will open on the property in...

I spoke on the phone with Amtrak's director of Interline services. He thinks that Thruway connections to and from Birmingham will be a low-hanging fruit when the new station opens. A Montgomery connection will be in place right away because the existing Greyhound schedule coincides perfectly...

AL.com published an article stating, again, that the transit center will open in December 2016. When it opens Megabus will serve in that location. Greyhound and Amtrak will occupy their new section in March 2017. At some point a deli and news stand will open as well. There's a push to...

It's a nice station. The biggest attraction in the station district is the King Edward hotel. The last time I was in Jackson the downtown appeared to be slowly building up. I can't tell you if it has finally emerged as a vibrant area, but I know that's the goal.

That's correct. This project does not do anything to address the platforms, nor does it address the ancient elevator at the platform. I guarantee when the new station is up and running the local powers-that-be will wonder why nothing was done at trackside. Hopefully a plan of action will be...

On Memorial Day I made a special trip to Birmingham (by Amtrak, of course!) to see the progress on the new Intermodal Station. This enormous downtown project is "on time and on budget" according to everything I have read so far. Supposedly the transit facility will open in October. It appears...

They've done this re-route before. If I remember correctly, it rejoins the normal route near Marshall. I also remember that the re-route was only necessary in one direction.

I don't have the calculations in front of me, but I recall that it's faster to take the City of New Orleans between Chicago and Memphis than it is to drive.

They're still making progress in Birmingham, Alabama! By all appearances this project will be finished and ready to open in 2016! I hear that it's on budget too! Here's the link to a short news article with a photo...

Here's an update on Amtrak's planned move into the new East Lansing, MI intermodal facility: Evidently, the facility is all set and ready, and so are the passengers. However, Amtrak is having problems getting phone services and equipment transferred. Read this from the Lansing State Journal...