They finally put up the Service Disruption notice on the Amtrak "Service Alerts and Notices" page. But it's a little confusing.
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Alert_C&pagename=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&cid=1251625880759
"Texas Eagle Trains 21/421 and 22/422: Track Work Affects Service at Mineola, Dallas, Fort Worth, Cleburne, McGregor and Temple
Effective April 9 and 28, 2014 and May 13, 20 and 27, 2014
On the dates shown above, Texas Eagle Trains 21/421 and 22/422 will DETOUR [emphasis here is mine] between Longview and Taylor, due to track work being performed by Union Pacific Railroad. This detour will affect service at Mineola, Dallas, Fort Worth, Cleburne, McGregor and Temple on April 9 and 28, and May 13, 20 and 27, as described below:
Cleburne Service
On the dates indicated above, service will not be provided to or from Cleburne."
That's clear enough and agrees with what the Austin agent said.
"Train 21/421 Bus Service between Longview and Taylor
On the dates shown above, Train 21/421 will operate as scheduled to Longview, where bus service will be provided to and from Mineola, Dallas, Fort Worth, McGregor, Temple and Taylor. Upon arriving at Taylor, passengers will board westbound Train 21/421, serving all remaining stations on the route."
The last sentence seems to say that everyone gets bustituted between LVW and TAY, because they added Taylor at the end. Maybe they mean that anyone getting on at any station between Mineola and Temple gets bused to Taylor. It isn't clear.
"Train 22/422 Bus Service between Taylor and Longview
On the dates shown above, Train 22/422 will operate as scheduled to Taylor, where bus service will be provided to and from Temple, McGregor, Fort Worth, Dallas, Mineola and Longview. Upon arriving at Longview, passengers will board eastbound Train 2/422, serving all remaining stations on the route."
Same thing here, maybe they mean anyone getting on between Temple and Mineola gets bused to LVW. I'm thinking that the agent I spoke to didn't lie after all, it was just not very clear to her (as it is not to me) what was going on.
I looked at boarding (and disembarking the following day) at Austin just to be safe. And to my surprise, it's cheaper! Well, the roomette is, in fact it's cheaper than the flexible plan in the coach! What's up with that!
Tonys96, Super 8, Motel 6 and Homewood Suites all look to be about 2 miles from the station - seems like it would be cheaper to take a cab than rent a car?