Sunset Limited east of New Orleans

[jasper mcmillan]

The Sunset Limited east of New Orleans has been suspended for over 5 years! The Amtrak annual report says the current Sunset Limited has the lowest number of passengers per year among the long distance trains. I think the routing is a big problem. When will the line east of New Orleans be restored?

Never. Amtrak began complaining about low fiscal returns on the Sunset almost as soon as it began operating east of New Orleans in 1993. Prior to Katrina, they had already at least partially canceled the Train despite claims to the opposite. I live in Pensacola, Florida and was told on different occasions via phone calls to Amtrak reservations that the Sunset was no longer stopping here or was not running at all. Katrina gave Amtrak the excuse to do what they had planned to do anyway, cancel the Train altogether.

 

[kentuckian1977]

I have read numerous claims that Amtrak wont return to the Gulf Coast because the Sunset Limited has the lowest fiscal return of all Amtrak Trains. Question: Isn't Amtrak funded by the U.S. Government? No Train in ANY country runs for profit and most ARE funded by their respective governments. There is a term that is unfamiliar to our political leaders called Infrastructure. Highways, Bridges, Railway right of ways n equipment, Electrical Grids etc. The ONLY component of the aforementioned that they relate to is Highway construction and maintenance. Interstates are funded by vast sums yet passenger Trains are tossed scraps year after year which is why train service is slipping despite the hot air put forth by Amtrak in their severely slanted annual reports. Competition is the driving force behind good service and Amtrak has no competitors thus leading to what we have now. A little Kingdom operating under the auspices of our tax dollars yet totally oblivious to the needs of the public. As an example: Atlanta, easily a very major U.S. City along with Memphis each have ONE train operating both ways to and from the north east. The Gulf Coast has no passenger train service at all. In Europe or Asia, this would be tantamount to dereliction of duty by Amtrak Officers and they would be replaced.

First, I'll be the first to note that you bumped up a thread that is over a year old. (No offense, but that seems to be a big no-no around here.) Second, the restoration of the "Sunset East" has been discussed to death on here, including in more recent threads. The right-wing-governed states through which it passes will not fund it, and neither Amtrak nor CSX really want it back, so it ain't happening, end of story.

You make very valid points about how no trains (or public transit in general) anywhere make a profit. However, you totally contradict and defeat your point when you head into GOP-talking-point territory about Amtrak needing competition. The quickest way to kill passenger rail completely in this country (at least outside of the Northeast Corridor) would be to try to privatize Amtrak. If there was any way to make passenger rail profitable, the freight railroads themselves would take it back over in a heartbeat.

 

[Ryan]

As an example: Atlanta, easily a very major U.S. City along with Memphis each have ONE train operating both ways to and from the north east. The Gulf Coast has no passenger train service at all. In Europe or Asia, this would be tantamount to dereliction of duty by Amtrak Officers and they would be replaced.

Give them the money and they'll be happy to run the train.

 

[sitzplatz17]

1323025236[/url]' post='333050']If there was any way to make passenger rail profitable, the freight railroads themselves would take it back over in a heartbeat.

Very true. Currently us frieght railroads are some of the most profitable railroads in the world.If they thought for even a new York minute that passenger rail would be a money making proposition you'd see BNSF/Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern/CSX branded passenger coaches before you can finish saying "publicly funded rail should be profitable".

 

[cirdan]

But in Texas? Outside of Dallas, the train is but a curio, a toy for rail fans to enjoy playing with really big train sets. Unless Texas gets serious about using public transit in general, Amtrak would be stupid to highly fund routes there.

but isn't all that changing?

10 or 20 years ago you could have said the Dallas area has no local rail-based transportation system. Now of course there are several systems randing from heritage trolleys thru DART and A-Train to TRE, and all these systems are being developed further.

So things can change quite quickly.

I also have the impression the bus system has developed in parallel as I've been seeing buses and bus stops in places where I'm pretty sure there weren't any before, although I've never actually travelled by bus in Dallas and don't know the network topography so I could be wrong on that count..

Similarly the light rail system in Houston may seem fairly embryonic right now but it is developing.

In Austin it is still a bit early to tell where things are heading, but you definietly can't claim nothing is happening.

 

[jis]

I have read numerous claims that Amtrak wont return to the Gulf Coast because the Sunset Limited has the lowest fiscal return of all Amtrak Trains. Question: Isn't Amtrak funded by the U.S. Government? No Train in ANY country runs for profit and most ARE funded by their respective governments.

The statement in bold above is not true in general though is true in a preponderance of cases. There are trains that run at a profit. They are in general not long distance trains running at 80mph max, unless one counts extreme luxury tourist trains that do not provide any real transportation function. They are usually either high speed trains (e.g. TGV Sud Est including paying off all capital at market rate), TGV Atlantique), and there are suburban systems and subway systems. In some cases the finances are structured as a package giving the railroad company rights to develop real estate around their stations (e.g. Hong Kong, Tokyo). In general capital for building the lines is provided by government though in some cases the cost is recovered from oeprations over the years, e.g. TGV Sud-Est.