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The overwhelming majority of people going from San Antonio to El Paso on a commercial carrier fly.  It is 553 miles from SA to El Paso via I-10.  My proposal envisioned two bus connections.  One would be from San Antonio to Del Rio.  The other would be from Alpine to Midland.  This might reduce the angst amongst the Del Rio and Alpine residents over the loss of the Sunset.  Frankly, I don't think the bus connection would last very long.  Most people in these communities drive to San Antonio or Midland and, if they are traveling long distance, they fly from those communities.For several years Amtrak ran the Inter American to Laredo.  It did not attract many passengers.  Moreover, the track south of San Antonio would only permit 50 mph running, so it took seemingly forever to get to the border city.  The UP has probably improved the track since then, but I don't think there is a market for service south of San Antonio.Amtrak is not going to expand its long distance train network unless the Congress gives it a lot more money than has been proposed or the states pony up a lot of money.  I don't see that happening in Texas.  My proposal is all about improving the existing service without the incurrence of significant additional cost.  About a decade ago TXARP proposed running the Eagle over the T&P to El Paso and on to Los Angles as a second train.  They did not want to touch the Sunset.  They also wanted to add a new train from Kansas City to San Antonio and Houston, if I remember correctly.  To me this illustrates one of the problems of the rail advocacy groups.  They want to expand a lightly patronized system, without saying how they would pay for it other than to get more government money.  This is self defeating.  Most people know that frequently you have to give to get.  If advocates show no willingness to compromise, most executives, managers, and politicians will ignore them.    I forgot to mention two points in my previous post.  A station would have to be constructed to serve Midland and Odessa.  It could be located half way between the two cities.  They are only 30 miles apart.  The tracks run just south of the Midland Airport.  Thus, any passengers who wanted to take the train to Midland and connect to a flight would have an easy transfer, although I don't imagine that there are many people who would want to do so.The other thing that I would do is eliminate all the ticket offices south of St. Louis except for New Orleans, Fort Worth and Los Angles.  Passengers would be required to buy their tickets on-line, which the airlines have shown is doable, or from station kiosks.  Those wanting to check their bags would have to take them to a designated train side location, where a crew member could check them, and place them in the baggage compartment.  If the baggage man had pre-printed checks for every stop Enroute, it would not take long to tag the bag and give the check to the passenger.  This system is already in effect at most of the smaller stations along the Eagle and Sunset routes.  The savings in labor could be used to help improve the services as recommended.
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