Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited schedule change

[Trogdor]

The current late night schedule isn't so bad, but the new times will be at the beginning and end of morning rush hour.

5:40 am and 9:02 pm are rush hour?

 

[TCRT]

I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but the new timetable, which shows the new Sunset Limited schedule, has been released (I picked one up at BOS yesterday). In addition to updating the timings, the listing of the "suspended" stops has been deleted.

 

[alanh]

Yep, particularly the 5:40am one. A lot of people commute to Phoenix and get an early start. Although the stop is scheduled for 10 minutes, it's usually much longer due to the number of passengers and luggage. So we're looking at the crossing being closed from 5:40-6:10. It's even worse if Amtrak is running late and it goes into the 6 or 7 o'clock hours.

Although 9:10am is after most of the morning rush, there's still a ton of traffic in the area. The disruption is going to be pretty bad.

There's a second crossing a mile or two to the southeast that can be used, but it's via a two-lane residential street.

There weren't any housing developments there the last time Amtrak used a morning schedule (2004), so it wasn't much of a problem then.

There are proposals to build an overpass, but nobody has the money. Even apart from Amtrak, UP traffic is picking up and the long intermodals create delays. As far as I know, there's no proposal to build a real full-length platform.

 

[Aaron]

Although 9:10am is after most of the morning rush, there's still a ton of traffic in the area. The disruption is going to be pretty bad.

There is no Amtrak stop at 9:10am (unless the #2 is really late). The #1 stops at MRC at 8:52pm, leaving at 9:02 pm