What about the option of teminating both the Palmetto and the CONO in Jacksoville, and move the crew/service base down to Jacksonville? The negative there is that folks going to places between JAX and ORL lose a one-seat ride, but the positive is that there is more time to service the CONO and establish some recovery time for the return westbound.
Won't the Orlando theme parks be a huge draw for riders?
The train will not turn same-day in Sanford. The consist will overnight for maintenance and go back out the next day. It will same-day turn in New Orleans. There are three sets of equipment required and stated as such in the report.
SunRail will be at Winter Park, Orlando, Kissimmee, and possibly DeLand. Brightline will be at the airport so would require a bus from Orlando.
SunRail Phase III is the connection from Sandlake Road to the Orlando Airport Intermodal Center. It is not funded yet, but it is already designated as a priority project, and should get funded in the near foreseeable future, and there is even a possibility that it might get built before the northern extension from Debary to Deland. SunRail will connect with Brightline at the Airport station which is designed with space for Brightline, SunRail, and an yet to be determined LRV service. Provision is also made for space to build out Brightline from the station towards Tampa at some point in the future. The original design of the station was actually to accommodate the Florida HSR to Tampa. Addition of Brightline happened much later.
The revenue wouldn't put even the slightest dent in the initial construction costs nor the ongoing cost of running to Tampa plus operating and maintaining a turn-around facility. If turned in Tampa, they wouldn't do much more than the required daily inspections and very basic running repairs. Sanford is a full mechanical facility that can do everything, and if a car must be shopped there would likely be a protect available. Amtrak isn't going to hold protect cars in Tampa.
Unfortunately, Amtrak's last schedule in 2001-2004 did not connect with the City of New Orleans in New Orleans. Amtrak had to adjust the schedule east of New Orleans to accommodate Union Pacific traffic problems west of New Orleans which caused the Sunset to run very late. Prior to that in the 1990s and 2000, the Sunset from Florida was schedule to arrive in New Orleans around 9:20AM. Even if it ran late, it had no problems connecting with the Northbound City of New Orleans which left around 2:00PM. I made that connection several times and other through passengers were connecting at the same time. Of course, it was 3 times per week because that's how the Sunset was scheduled, Southbound the City of New Orleans arrived in New Orleans around 3:30PM. The eastbound Sunset was scheduled at around 8:45PM but was often late. Neither direction required an over night stay in New Orleans. I even traveled from the Crescent through New Orleans to the eastbound Sunset Limited once. It wasn't possible to make the connection the other way because the Sunset left New Orleans too early. When the Mobile - Birmingham section of the Crescent ran, it was possible to connect from the Crescent to the Sunset and vv in Bay Minette, Alabama. Between UP, CSX and Amtrak, a lot was done to kill the long distance ridership on the Sunset east of New Orleans,
Another proposal is to have the Crescent make a hook at New Orleans and run out to Mobile. I've seen several plans proposed, including restoring the pre-Katrina status quo. What we really need is frequent diesel rail car service between Mobile and New Orleans but alas, rail cars aren't allowed any more.No one is proposing restoring what was there before Katrina. What is proposed is a daily service not associated with the Sunset Limited. It helps to read the document in addition to getting excited about a misprinted map
They are allowed, but they are more expensive than the ones built for European markets as they need to be built stronger and heavier.Another proposal is to have the Crescent make a hook at New Orleans and run out to Mobile. I've seen several plans proposed, including restoring the pre-Katrina status quo. What we really need is frequent diesel rail car service between Mobile and New Orleans but alas, rail cars aren't allowed any more.No one is proposing restoring what was there before Katrina. What is proposed is a daily service not associated with the Sunset Limited. It helps to read the document in addition to getting excited about a misprinted map
As jls noted, there are no current proposals involving either the "status quo" of the Sunset Limited or the Crescent (which would be particularly implausible given the need to establish servicing facilities in Mobile, an additional Crescent trainset would be required, and arrival and departure times at Mobile would fall during the overnight hours).Another proposal is to have the Crescent make a hook at New Orleans and run out to Mobile. I've seen several plans proposed, including restoring the pre-Katrina status quo. What we really need is frequent diesel rail car service between Mobile and New Orleans but alas, rail cars aren't allowed any more.No one is proposing restoring what was there before Katrina. What is proposed is a daily service not associated with the Sunset Limited. It helps to read the document in addition to getting excited about a misprinted map
Does Tri-Rail still operate diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars, or did those fall out of favor?They are allowed, but they are more expensive than the ones built for European markets as they need to be built stronger and heavier.Another proposal is to have the Crescent make a hook at New Orleans and run out to Mobile. I've seen several plans proposed, including restoring the pre-Katrina status quo. What we really need is frequent diesel rail car service between Mobile and New Orleans but alas, rail cars aren't allowed any more.No one is proposing restoring what was there before Katrina. What is proposed is a daily service not associated with the Sunset Limited. It helps to read the document in addition to getting excited about a misprinted map
The Superliner equipment on the City of New Orleans can be serviced at the Sanford Auto Train facility; You don't have to do the work in New Orleans.
An incremental approach sounds good to me. There is not a whole lot of facilities upgrades needed on the MS Gulf Coast. The stations/platforms at Bay St. Louis, Gufport, Biloxi and Ocean Springs are there and mostly just waiting. Might need sprucing up and signage. They took out the platform at Pass Christian (I think). In an unaccustomed fit of forethought, Biloxi has placed their new main bus terminal about a block from the old Amtrak platform and may want to move the platform to be right across the street.
This was my point earlier. Until something is done about that hitch at Pensacola, by restoring pre-Katrina service, you might as well walk where you're going. I apologize to the folks in west Florida but I'm not the one that laid the tracks. The only people who benefited from the eastern half of Sunset were the few people who had the time to make a very leisurely trip between New Orleans and Jacksonville. I agree that train service along the coast needs to return incrementally. Bootstrapped back into service. The logical way to do this is with some sort of service between Mobile and New Orleans on an at least daily basis. One problem is with state and local funding. People, in the rest of the country have no idea how difficult it is to find a few million dollars to spare in the Mississippi state budget.
