Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle schedule change?

I'm booked ELP-CHI-WAS-ATL on 2/22/16 and just got an updated ticket showing my train departing El Paso at 9:35am instead of 3:35pm. This is unfortunate as my plane from Houston doesn't arrive in El Paso until 9:30am, and one cannot arrive by plane from Houston any earlier than that.

I tried doing the same booking online and it still shows the 3:35 departure. So I called and the agent said it looks like they are in the middle of updating the times. If you check ELP-CHI on that date it shows the Sunset leaving at one time and the Eagle leaving at another!

I guess I may fly to LAX and start there instead. It looks like the train is scheduled to leave there at 4PM so might be an opportunity to see some stuff in daylight that is normally at night.

Without a published schedule it will take some work to see where they added fluff.

SteveSTX said:

I guess I may fly to LAX and start there instead.

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I wouldn't make any changes in your travel plans just yet. The whole thing may be due to a spasm in the Amtrak computer which might go away after Christmas. Or not. :blink:

niemi24s said:

SteveSTX said:

I guess I may fly to LAX and start there instead.

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I wouldn't make any changes in your travel plans just yet. The whole thing may be due to a spasm in the Amtrak computer which might go away after Christmas. Or not. :blink:

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If the train is leaving LA approx 6 hours earlier, then it most likely will be leaving El Paso 6 hours earlier.

Perhaps there is indeed a change in the making. Just noticed the departure time for the Sunset Limited out of SAS for NOL on 22 Feb 2015 is about 5 hours earlier. Then again, maybe that's just part of the spasm. Only time (or a new timetable) will tell.

niemi24s said:

Perhaps there is indeed a change in the making. Just noticed the departure time for the Sunset Limited out of SAS for NOL on 22 Feb 2015 is about 5 hours earlier. Then again, maybe that's just part of the spasm. Only time (or a new timetable) will tell.

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I believe UP has track work scheduled. I've seen this change mentioned here before in previous years.

I did LAX to SAS Feb. 21, 2016: Both 2 and 422 said 4:00pm-10:50pm (Feb 22)

I did LAX to DAL same days: 422 said 4:00pm-3:20pm (Feb. 23). 2-422 said 10:00pm-4:50am (Feb. 23), 7:00am-3:20pm (Feb. 23)

I did LAX to HOU same days: 2 said 4:00pm-6:00am (Feb 23)

I did LAX to NOL same days: 2 said 4:00pm-4:30pm (Feb 23)

If this is true, then the 422 is going to spend overnight in SAS. I will say if those are the new times for LAX-SAS it would certainly help them. But it would suck for DAL, Austin and anyone else on the Texas Eagle branch.

This change (per the online Amtrak reservation system) appears to go into effect following the 7 Jan 2016 departure from ELP - or on 9 Jan 2016. But trains headed the other way (21 & 421) don't appear to be affected - at least for the one date I checked in the middle of January.

Yea I just read this week about the time change. I think in RailPac.

I miscalculated in my previous post so I retract it. Feel free to delete this post, moderators.

Is this a UP Construction schedule change for a month or so that might only effect the SL in one direction?

Saw this on FB from reliable source:

"Effective January 8, 2016 through March 13, 2016, Amtrak #2 "Sunset Limited" will depart Los Angeles @ 4pm & arrive New Orleans @ 4:40pm. Also January 16, 2016 through February 20, 2016, Amtrak #1, "Sunset Limited" will depart New Orleans @ 10:30am & arrive Los Angeles @ 5:35am!"

I decided I'd go from LAX a day earlier and then just continue on my existing reservation starting at El Paso. I have a Transportation Certificate to use for the $245 roomette fare from LAX-ELP.

So I called regular reservations to make the reservation and told the agent that I didn't have the transportation certificate with me so I'll need them to hold the reservation and I'll pick up the ticket at my ticket office in Houston after the holidays. After making the reservation, he said they could hold it until the 31st, but I explained I won't be home by then and asked if they could hold it longer (in the past, I've had them hold up to the day of travel when using a TC). He said he'd need to transfer me to customer relations.

I said, "Are they open right now?" (8pm on Christmas Eve)

He said, "Yes, please stay on the line while I transfer you and thanks for calling Amtrak."

"Thanks for calling Amtrak Customer Relations. Our office is closed for the holiday. Please call back later. Click."

Back to square one.

AmtrakBlue said:

niemi24s said:

Perhaps there is indeed a change in the making. Just noticed the departure time for the Sunset Limited out of SAS for NOL on 22 Feb 2015 is about 5 hours earlier. Then again, maybe that's just part of the spasm. Only time (or a new timetable) will tell.

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I believe UP has track work scheduled. I've seen this change mentioned here before in previous years.

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If only we could have dedicated passenger rail tracks here in the United States. But, instead, the Federal Govt. will build more airports.

SteveSTX said:

If you check ELP-CHI on that date it shows the Sunset leaving at one time and the Eagle leaving at another!

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At least this has now been corrected to show both leaving ELP at the same time of 9:35am during the construction - six hours earlier than normal. That eliminates the nasty rift in the space-time continuum! .

I had a reservation from LA on The Texas Eagle for March 2. I got the notice earlier this week. I booked a Southwest flight that got into LA from Baltimore at 1PM. Obviously,with only a three hour window to get from the airport to Union Station was too close for comfort. It's a total AGR award, so it was worth it to fly in that day and have a nine hour window. I moved my entire itinerary back to April,in case the early LA departure lasts longer than March 13. Glad Southwest doesn't charge for a reservation change.

Yeah I got lucky on my change. My flight from Houston to El Paso was $126 but I found a flight from Houston to LAX for only $59. Now I'll get an extra train day (I hope they're planning on serving dinner out of LA) and I'll have a $70 credit on Southwest.

AmtrakBlue said:

Saw this on FB from reliable source:

"Effective January 8, 2016 through March 13, 2016, Amtrak #2 "Sunset Limited" will depart Los Angeles @ 4pm & arrive New Orleans @ 4:40pm. ..."

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This will blow away the connection from the Coast Starlight arriving 9 p.m. That's gonna hurt!

Well, I want the UP to go ahead do what it has to do, and have the tracks ready for a daily Sunset Limited, coming one of these sweet days.

I'm booked on LAX->SAS departing Jan 8, 2016 and also just received an email from Amtrak with a new e-ticket showing departure at 4:00 PM instead of 10:00 PM. Rather short notice for such a drastic change and I'm lucky I noticed as I tend to ignore emails as much as possible. That's why I opted in for text alerts for status changes but that never happened.

OK, I'm confused. Does this schedule change affect the Texas Eagle from SAS to FTW any time in January? I was offered a great hotel deal for a return stay in OKC and am thinking about a CBR-OKC RT later in January.

DryCreek said:

Does this schedule change affect the Texas Eagle from SAS to FTW any time in January?

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At the present time, no. Not even in February or March.

My 3/13 reservation for LAX-FTW was changed to a 4 PM boarding time - the same boarding time I had from SAN to LAX. Didn't get an email, I just happened to check the reservation online and it said that part of my itinerary had been cancelled! So, freaking out, I called and they explained that it wasn't cancelled, I just needed to book an earlier train from SAN.

The agent I spoke to said it wasn't a permanent schedule change, just track work being done. He didn't say how he knew that and I didn't ask.

Speaking of the SL, I noticed this morning that the Amtrak status page said for both its (westbound #1) arrival and departure at SAS, "status unavailable" - so going to the Amtrak Station Status boards (off of the Status Maps site) that it said on first look, "overdue." Now it says "On time" but it's still posting a scheduled departure time of 02:45.

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Edit, 6:25 AM, it's back to saying "Overdue" - whatever...