Amtrak offers bus connections to Gulf Coast

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CHamilton

CHamilton

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Amtrak Makes New Gulf Coast Connections
CHICAGO - An expanded partnership between Amtrak and two bus carriers can take passengers to and from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and Amtrak trains in Jackson, Miss., Tuscaloosa, Ala., and New Orleans.

Connections to Amtrak City of New Orleans, Crescent and Sunset Limited trains are now available on Amtrak.com and other sales channels in a partnership with Greyhound Lines and Capitol Trailways. Bus stop and station information is also on Amtrak.com, with locations listed on the attachments, along with sample fares.
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Amtrak press release (PDF)
 
CHamilton said:
Amtrak Makes New Gulf Coast Connections
CHICAGO - An expanded partnership between Amtrak and two bus carriers can take passengers to and from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and Amtrak trains in Jackson, Miss., Tuscaloosa, Ala., and New Orleans.

Connections to Amtrak City of New Orleans, Crescent and Sunset Limited trains are now available on Amtrak.com and other sales channels in a partnership with Greyhound Lines and Capitol Trailways. Bus stop and station information is also on Amtrak.com, with locations listed on the attachments, along with sample fares.
Click to expand...
Amtrak press release (PDF)
Click to expand...
Oh No! Legalized bustitution :p Bring back Sunset East for me :(
 
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Greyhound Lines and Capitol Trailways, that sounds interesting. Wonder what buses will be used for the route.
 
Wow, that overnight bus from Mobile to Tuscaloosa does not look appealing. 6 hours 30 minutes... can be driven in 3 hours 30 minutes. Not many of the intermediate stops will generate much ridership.
 
Ha! I briefly had my itinerary all planned for a visit to my son's family: Drive to Anniston (allow >2 hrs.), take sb Crescent to Tuscaloosa, take bus from Tuscaloosa to Mobile, rent car and drive east... or just drive down the interstates point to point in under 4.5 hours. Oh, well, it was a thought!!

Not to put the new service down--it's an improvement over nonexistent. :)
 
Ok, I decided to look this up. Other than a news release, there is nothing on the Amtrak web site to indicate this service is available. Certainly nothing on the timetables. So then I looked up Greyhound, just for the New Orleans to Mobile connection, for instance. Greyhound lists 5 different departures to Mobile starting at 7:30am until 9:25pm. None of these connect with the Sunset Ltd except for an overnight stay. Westbound there are three departures from Mobile from 3:10am. 5:35am and 1:25pm. The first two connect with the Sunset and the CONO. Why is Amtrak only siting the one connection in each direction? The Greyhound station in New Orleans is Union Station. This is worse than silly. It's just stupid. I am sure the other connections are just as ridiculous. If Amtrak wants to partner up with Greyhound just do it. Why only one bus? These people are idiots.
 
Should Amtrak offer more bus connections (whether dedicated Amtrak Thruway connections or through partnerships with Greyhound and other intercity bus operators)? Yes, of course. And I would hope that the timetables available online would be updated to show these new connections.

But I don't see how this expansion of joint/through ticketing is silly or stupid. Want to travel Memphis - Mobile? That's now available as an option on the website. Same thing for Charlotte - Mobile. Connect to/from the City of New Orleans and the Crescent.

So, yes, there needs to be far more expansion of bus-train connections. More states should follow the lead of California in this regard. Although CA may be somewhat unusual in having a fairly sizable network of state-supported corridor trains and many off-route destinations to run buses to, I think that at least a few other states could/should set up similar, if smaller, networks (I'm thinking IL, NY, PA off the top of my head). Certainly many other options open up if we expand the list beyond just individual states.
 
It's silly because there are multiple connections and Amtrak only lists the one. And it's just a normal Greyhound run, not a dedicated bus. So why not list them all?
 
What a bunch of stupid people at Amtrak. Instead of going Mobile to Tuscaloosa to get on the Cresent, just drive a couple of hours up to Hattiesburg and board the train. Even southbound from whereever, take the train to Hattiesburg.
 
twa904 said:
What a bunch of stupid people at Amtrak. Instead of going Mobile to Tuscaloosa to get on the Cresent, just drive a couple of hours up to Hattiesburg and board the train. Even southbound from whereever, take the train to Hattiesburg.
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Mobile to Hattiesburg used to be available by bus, but no more. First, the connection was not a formally listed one, but simply available in the schedules of the Gulf Trasport Company, I think an overnight stay was required, at least we took one, as the northbound Crescent is fairly early out of Hattiesburg. Second, the bus station is no longer down town, but oujt at the edge, so you would have a few miles to travel, and I have no idea what taxi service, if any exists in Hattiesburg. Third, I do not think any direct bus service of any kind even exists any more.
 
George,

The Greyhound schedule from Mobile to Hattiesburg is the same as the schedule that Amtrak shows for the connection to Jackson to the CONO. Leaves Mobile at 7a and arrives at Hattiesburg at 10:10a at the Greyhound station, but the bus goes to Biloxi and Gulfport then turns north to Hattiesburg. The Cresent leaves Hattiesburg sometime about 11:25a.There is no good connection southbound from the Cresent.
 
henryj said:
It's silly because there are multiple connections and Amtrak only lists the one. And it's just a normal Greyhound run, not a dedicated bus. So why not list them all?
Click to expand...
One might consider that the through ticketing is a PARTNERSHIP. Amtrak may NOT be the half of the partnership saying no. Any arrangement like codeshares have to have a perceved finiancial benefit to both parties.
 
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