Reroute through Louisiana?

[Tom]

Is it possible to run the Sunset through a more northern route through Louisiana so that it hits Baton Rouge? If it is, how are the track conditions, speed, and frieght on that route? Would it be as fast as the current route? Just an idea.

 

[WICT106]

Well, KCS was a willing participant in the stillborn "Cresent-Star" project, which involved setting up some run-through equipment on the Cresent that would traverse its tracks through to Dallas. The route would have gone via Shreveport, not Baton Rouge. KCS is also a willing participant in the Baton Rouge-NOL communter rail project, but it remains to be seen if that is stillborn as well. One cannot help but notice the difference in attitude between KCS and, say, the UPRR. These two items makes me think that KCS would be a willing partner in the expansion of services along its tracks.

This new suggestion should also illustrate the expense with adding short-distance, corridor-type operations: The budget is $25 million for only three years of operation. That works out to something on the order of $695 000 per month for an 85 mile route. Amtrak needs to look for more profitable ways of using its capital and resources $$$.

Something needs to be done; that's for certain. Embargoeing service on the Shoreline east of NOL is costing Amtrak a lot of lost revenue. Why isn't Amtrak running a train over the good sections of track between Orlando and Mobile? The track between Mobile and Orlando is clear and up and running, yet Amtrak has indefinitely embargoed service over this portion of the route. Why? The route of the Sunset recieves the barest of services, and one would think that in order to demonstrate viability and necessity, Amtrak would be running trains where it could, yet the Sunset route has to scrape by while those along the NEC complain about having their discount go from 70% to 50%. Amtrak scrambles to accomodate those who commute on huge discounts, while saying tough luck to those who request the barest minimum level of service.

Why did Amtrak terminate the trains at San Antonio instead of Houston? The behavior of Amtrak management in this debacle is just giving more ammunition to those who would vote to terminate Amtrak.

 

[haolerider]

To answer one of your questions, there is not enough business from Orlando to Mobile to run a train. If there were still casinos in Gulfport/Biloxe, then yes that route would make sense. Right now, it would be an empty train and Amtrak cannot afford that.

If you compare the revenue from the NEC to the LDTs, you will see why so much emphasis is put on the NEC. That is where the money is and that is where the most efforts will be expended.

Reasons for terminating in San Antonio rather than Houston are obvious - no crew base in Houston, no facilities to service the trains, etc. San Antonio also allows for connections between the Texas Eagle and the Sunset.

If you think these decisions are made in a vacumn, you are sadly mistaken. You may have some reason to complain about many of the Amtrak management decisions, but as far as this recent disaster - Katrina/Rita, the decisions have been well thought out and have proven to be the right decisions.

I cannot seem to understand everyone's love of the Sunset. It ranks lowest in overall passenger count - 80,000 for fiscal year 05 - through August and third from the bottom in revenue - $9M - above only the Palmetto and the Cardinal. Granted, it is a true trans-continental train, but only barely, given its horrible on time performance. Decisions to focus on hight passenger count and high revenue trains like the Auto Train and the Empire Builder are the correct ones.

 

[Tom]

I'm not talking about a route that far north, just maybe one that's parallel to the current one.

 

[jccollins]

I cannot seem to understand everyone's love of the Sunset. It ranks lowest in overall passenger count - 80,000 for fiscal year 05 - through August and third from the bottom in revenue - $9M - above only the Palmetto and the Cardinal.

Comparing its passenger count to other longhauls is like comparing apples to oranges since the train only runs 3x per week. If it carries 80,000 pax by running 3x per week, it would probably carry about 187,000 pax if it ran daily. Don't forget that by only running 3x per week seating capacity is very limited. 80,000 pax per year is roughly 256 pax per train, which is not all that bad compared to the other longhaul trains.

I agree it could do much better, but it isn't doing all that bad given the serious challenges (YouPee & OTP, disruptions due to track conditions, very very limited and/or no staffing of key stations on the line, limited 3x/week service) it must deal with on a daily (or tri-weekly) basis. It could be Amtrak's shining star if it was given some attention and frequencies were brought up to daily.

Numbers can be crunched in many different ways to portray something positively or negatively. Norm Mineta and the Bush administration constantly tries to turn the numbers against Amtrak and NARP is often guilty (sadly) of the same offense by skewing numbers to make things look too good. We are all guilty of doing this at one time or another, but clearly the Sunset it not quite as bad as you tried to make it look.

 

[railfangns]

Heres a reroute of the sunset that would work

los angeles to san antonio regular route

san antonio to ft worth texas eagle route

ft worth to meridian planned route of the crescent star

meridian to birmingham route of the crescent

birmingham to mobile route of the former gulf breeze

mobile to orlando regular csx route

Only thing how bad would it make the train late? probably not too bad since it wouldnt have its long service stop in new orleans.

 

[AlanB]

Only thing how bad would it make the train late? probably not too bad since it wouldnt have its long service stop in new orleans.

No, it would be even later. That long service stop existed for one reason only, to help get the train back on schedule. In cases where the train actually did arrive on time into NOL, the train just basically sat there waiting for it's appointed time to leave. It wasn't being serviced the whole time.

 

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

The Sunset LTD serves major city's along the way the train realy needs to be daily.I am real tired of people saying lets get rid of the Sunset LTD at this point in time let's try to Save Amtrak as a whole if 1 train goes they can all follow.

 

[jccollins]

Heres a reroute of the sunset that would work
los angeles to san antonio regular route

san antonio to ft worth texas eagle route

ft worth to meridian planned route of the crescent star

meridian to birmingham route of the crescent

birmingham to mobile route of the former gulf breeze

mobile to orlando regular csx route

My concern, more than the train running late, would be the lack of available stations along any route other than the regularly scheduled route between San Antonio, TX and Orlando, FL. While Amtrak could serve established stations along the Texas Eagle and Crescent route portions you included, they would be unable to serve any other intermediate cities due to the lack of any operating station facilities on those long-abandoned (as far as passenger service goes) rail lines. The service on your suggested route would cost a fortune to run and would be so sporadic and archaic that it would be a huge waste of money.

The best thing Amtrak can do at this time is work on restoring Sunset Limited service from San Antonio, TX to New Orleans, LA on the regular route and make sure that the intermediate city stations are ready to be returned to service. Service from Los Angeles, CA to Orlando, FL (which seems to be the point of trying to reroute the Sunset Limited) is still available, although it takes roughly a day longer and requires travel on other Amtrak routes through Chicago, IL and Washington, DC.

My main concern is the lack of train service availability between established intermediate station stops on the suspended portion of the Sunset Limited route. Most of my Amtrak trips are on longhaul trains but between intermediate points (i.e. I use the train for actual transportation between reasonably-distanced cities and not just one long cruise vacation). These intermediate points don't have any service at this time and that is the real pity of the situation.

 

[Allen Dee]

Most of my Amtrak trips are on longhaul trains but between intermediate points (i.e. I use the train for actual transportation between reasonably-distanced cities and not just one long cruise vacation).

JC,

Very good point.

Most of my train trips (both LD & corridor) have been between intermediate points. I have never ridden the full length of any train route. I think the majority of Amtrak passengers can make this same statement.

This is one point that most critics of Amtrak fail to realize.