Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Not only is the Texas Eagle schedule padded like a hockey goalie, especially in Texas, it cannot even keep to it.  As of August 15th Number 21 was late by an average of 104 minutes arriving into Fort Worth.  By the time it got to San Antonio it was late by an average of 126 minutes.  That's more than two hours, but who is counting?  Instead of arriving in San Antonio at 10:25 p.m., it arrives usually after midnight.  On 37 occasions this year it arrived after 2:00 a.m., and on two occasions it did not arrive until 7:30 a.m.  Its departure time from San Antonio is 7:00 a.m.  On those occasions when the train is expected to arrive in San Antonio after midnight, passengers connecting with Number 2 are taken off the train in Austin and placed on a bus that takes them to Houston.  Number 22 has not been much better.  It has been late arriving into Fort Worth by an average of 67 minutes.  At Chicago it was on time 0% during July.  And it has only been on time 2.8 per cent of the time in 2008.  Amtrak counts a long distance train on time if it arrives within 30 minutes of the advertised.  This means that Number 22 was late at its end point by more than 30 minutes 97.2 per cent of the time.  The major culprit is freight train congestion on the UP and BNSF.  The Eagle runs on a single track railroad for most of its route.  It is chockers with traffic.  Thus, Eagle passengers get numerous opportunities to watch Texas Longhorns from a stationary platform.Another problem is a circuitous route between Dallas and San Antonio.  Whereas it is only 275 highway miles between Big D and the Alamo City, it is 314 miles via the Eagle route.  Out of Dallas the train heads west to Fort Worth, a distance of approximately 32 miles.  Then it runs south on the BNSF to Temple, which is not the most direct route between Fort Worth and Austin or San Antonio.  From Temple it runs over the former Katy line to Taylor, which is another dog leg.  At Taylor it picks up the UP line for the run through Round Rock to Austin. And at San Antonio it has to loop around to get to the Amtrak Station, which is located on the old SP line.  Because of the schedule, as well as the train's inability to adhere to it, the Fort Worth crew gets off the train in Austin, together with the dinning car crew, and a new train crew takes the train from Austin to San Antonio.  In the morning a train crew takes the train from San Antonio to Austin, where they hand the train over to a Fort Worth crew, and go back to San Antonio in a van.  This just ups the cost even more of running the Eagle. As noted Number 21 gets 10 hours and 5 minutes to go from Dallas to San Antonio, whereas Number 22 gets 8 hours and 20 minutes for the reverse trip.  By comparison MapQuest says that it should take 4 hours and 29 minutes to drive it, and Greyhound, which has 18 schedules a day between Dallas and San Antonio, runs it off in approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes. Most people, irrespective of the cost, are not going to spend more than 10 hours getting from Dallas to San Antonio when they can get there in a fraction of the time by alternative means.  Amtrak has been offering a $26 promotional fare from San Antonio to Dallas and a $31 dollar fare from Dallas to San Antonio.  But the word is out.  Who wants to arrive in San Antonio at 12:30 a.m. in a station where getting a taxi or public transport is difficult at best?KUT Austin (NPR) reported recently on the increase in Amtrak's ridership.  The reporter got many facts wrong, although the thrust of her reporting was correct.  It was obvious that she has never been on the Eagle.  She noted, however, that Amtrak has a reputation in Texas for not being able to run its trains on time.  The best way to improve passenger rail service in Texas would be to discontinue the Eagle, along with the equally dismal performing Sunset Limited, and use the monies, together with state funds, to begin developing a true rapid rail corridor in the Texas Triangle.  People will use the train if it is frequent, reliable, safe, comfortable, and economical.  But they will not flock to a consistently late running, once a day train, which serves stations with signs in the parking lots advising motorists not to park their cars there overnight.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag