Sunset Limited

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Shinkansen1966

Train Attendant
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
17
Why is the wesbound Sunset Limited invariably so heavily delayed? I understand that Amtrak mostly operate on freight owned tracks, but why delays of 6,8 and even 12 hours? What plans are there to deal with this? I'm interesting because in April I'm coming over from the UK to do travel Amtrak coast to coast.
 
In short: too many trains on the line, which is mostly single track.

Most of the huge delays occur between El Paso and Los Angeles, although bottlenecks can and do happen around San Antonio from time to time.

UP is double-tracking parts of the route, but it's not happening soon enough. Hopefully in a few years time we'll see some big improvement.
 
Thanks!

On the Amtrak web site, it says there may be schedule change for the Sunset Ltd. Does anyone have anymore info on this?
 
That being said, the Sunset is a great route. Good scenery and good service on board. If you know going into it that you will probably be at least several hours late (probabaly more) you will enjoy the trip more. SIt back, relax, and let the rythym of the rails carry you away.
 
Thanks again! That's my attitude, too. I'm looking forward to a long relaxing journey and not really troubled about the delays. We've upgrade to the deluxe/bedroom so will be a great journey. And lots of visits to the dining car.

I've done Amtrak twice before: 1997 South West Chief, Coast Starlight and California Zephyr back to Chicago. 2004 Starlight all the way from LA to Seattle. Great experience. Totally different from here in the UK, too!
 
UP's freight business increased substantially in a short period of time and they were caught with their pants down. They don't have enough train crews to move all of the trains that they need to run.

So in addition to track capacity issues, which are severe, things are made worse by the lack of crews. They can't get trains into the yards fast enough, they can't get them out fast enough. This causes train crews on the mainline to go dead on time, meaning that they've exceeded the Federal maximum work hours.

So now you've got a train parked on the main line that can't move. Since they don't have enough crews to go around, it can sometimes take a few hours before a new crew can be found to move that train into a nearby yard or towards its ultimate destination. And things just snowball from there, with other train crews including Amtrak, now exceeding their maximum hours, since they were delayed by the first train that stopped.

As for the schedule change, the only one that I'm aware of is a one day a week termination at New Orleans due to track work east of New Orleans.
 
Blimey! It sounds like a big headache for UP. The other contributor on this board said they were double tracking in some places. Are they also recruiting more crews to this line so they can overcome these problems.

I hope Amtrak stock enough for food on the Sunset Ltd to allow for 6-8 hr delays!
 
Shinkansen1966 said:
Blimey! It sounds like a big headache for UP. The other contributor on this board said they were double tracking in some places. Are they also recruiting more crews to this line so they can overcome these problems.
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They are indeed hiring more crews all the time, but it takes time to train those crews, just like it takes time to double track. Additionally freight business is still continuing to increase, although not a rapidly as it was a year ago.

However if memory serves, my understanding is they estimated that they would hire and train 300 new crews last year and that still would leave them short by a few hundred crews.
 
Well, a longer (delayed) journey gives us more time to enjoy Texas, Arizona and California. You don't see many mountains, Mexican borders or deserts here in the UK!

Thanks for the information on this line - much appreciated and will help me enjoy the trip more and appreciate the delay.
 
Shinkansen1966 said:
On the Amtrak web site, it says there may be schedule change for the Sunset Ltd. Does anyone have anymore info on this?
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I received an e-mail today detailing some possible changes to Amtrak's scheduling this year. One of those is a much earlier eastbound Sunset Limited. Based on a seperate e-mail I received from a NARP representative, it looks like Amtrak has been working with UP to find a schedule that's more reliable and a better service to the travel market. I'll be anxious to see what they decide to do.
 
Well this sounds like good news. Of course I hope"more reliable" doesn't just mean adding ten hours to the schedule. It has already been slowed down enough through the years.

But, being more hopeful, maybe they have found times of the day when there will be less freight interference, something like that.

It must be astronomical the amount of business Amtrak has lost due to the lateness of that train. Think of all the people all the way between Florida and California who have no doubt sworn off Amtrak for life.

Nothing wrong with the train itself. It is a big beautiful superliner like so many others. I, for one, consider its scenery to be beautiful, though not of Rocky Mountain proportions.

Here is hoping for the best.
 
It goes far beyond the amount of business lost due to passengers never returning thanks to the delays.

Amtrak estimates that they spent over 2 million busing passengers between El Pase and Fort Worth in 2004.

As for a time change, nothing is official yet as Amtrak is still working with UP. They however are hoping for an afternoon departure from LA.
 
What's the ridership like on the NOL-ORL section of the train compared to the LAX-NOL section? Is it much different? I'm assuming that fewer people ride the eastern section.
 
Well the one time that I rode that segment, JAX - NOL, we had a decent crowd. Train wasn't sold out, but it wasn't empty either. I estimate that the sleepers were about 65% occupied, coach probably around 50%.
 

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