YIKES! Sunset LTD Cancelled in August!

[AMTRAK-P42]

I am disturbed about the loss of the Sunset between New Orleans and the east, even for just a month. Will there be any other trains serving that area--a daylight train? I just check the Web site and there is no mention on the loss of service on the Sunset page or under Amtrak press releases. The only way to know is that the Sunset route does not come up if you try to inquire on routes, fares, reservations between New Orleans and the east. I know the Sunset is on some people's list to eliminate, but it is the only single Amtrak train that goes from coast to coast--it was the first one to do so in American rail history. Anyone know why we have the loss of this service? Isn't summer time Amtrak's busiest time for passengers? What about passengers who would be taken the train at this time?Yikes is right!

We have a loss of service because of track-work in that area.

 

[Anthony]

Dumb question, but did you check to make sure that the date you were using was actually one of the three days a week that the Sunset actually runs?

Not a dumb question... I'm sure that was the problem :unsure:

 

[AMTRAK-P42]

Dumb question, but did you check to make sure that the date you were using was actually one of the three days a week that the Sunset actually runs?

Not a dumb question... I'm sure that was the problem :unsure:

It was my problem as well....

 

[AlanB]

Anyone know why we have the loss of this service? Isn't summer time Amtrak's busiest time for passengers? What about passengers who would be taken the train at this time?Yikes is right!

Steve,

As noted in my post above, where I quoted Gene Poon a noted travel agent who's quite knowledgeable about Amtrak, this wasn't Amtrak's choice to cancel service.

This is a CSX decision forced upon Amtrak. While it's never fun, Amtrak is providing a bus replacement. Nonetheless I'm sure that this will hurt ticket sales on this train and further increase the losses this train suffers.

 

[amtrakadirondack]

This wasn't Amtrak's choice to cancel service.

Like when Union Pacific decided to Abandon its West Phoenix Line, Amtrak didn’t want to stop serving Phoenix with the Sunset Limited, it was forced to.

 

[AMTRAK-P42]

This wasn't Amtrak's choice to cancel service.

Like when Union Pacific decided to Abandon its West Phoenix Line, Amtrak didn’t want to stop serving Phoenix with the Sunset Limited, it was forced to.

I remember that. It was a shame.

 

[battalion51]

All I'll say on the topic of trains terminating is this, nothing is sacred. I have knowledge of what is expected to happen in the fall, and let me just say it doesn't look pretty for Silver Service.

 

[Amfleet]

Has CSX ever been pretty? <_<

 

[battalion51]

Not CSX, Silver Service's future is what I'm talking about, routewise.

 

[Viewliner]

Can you speculate? or is it that you don't want to alarm anybody?

 

[battalion51]

Well let's just say this, service will be maintained to all estinations, it's just a matter of whether that destination has bus service, train service, or the route that the train takes. But Amtrak will still serve all destinations one way or another. The change may actually bolster ridership on some routes.

 

[radsmom]

Well I breathed a sigh of relief this afternoon when I went down to the station and left with my new tickets in hand! Until I actually had them I was feeling a bit uneasy about the whole situation. So we are set - now I am actually quite excited about the whole trip. We are going to really see a lot of the US and travel in more that 10 states we have never been to before so that is cool.

I am a bit stressed about making the connections and I know that traveling with a 3 year old can also add to the stress level of this but I am ready to take on the adventure. The fact we can check our lugguge all the way through from LA is really going to be helpful. This is one of the things that I liked about the Sunset Ltd as we took very little on board with us and had to pack for our Disneyworld stay with a bunch of stuff we don't need on the train. The thought of lugging a bunch of junk around from train to train was not going to be fun. We also get in to Orlando quite a bit earlier than the SL does (esp the way the SL is so late often) and if our schedule goes well we will be in Orlando around 4 pm instead of 4 am - LOL!