Amtrak will cancel the Crescent between Atlanta and New Orleans on Monday through Thursday during January, i.e. January 7-10, 14-17, 21-24, 28-31, and February 5-7. No alternative transportation will be provided by Amtrak.
The cancelations are because of Norfolk Southern track work. Is there not an alternate route between Atlanta and New Orleans?
If the long distance trains are an important element in the nation's intercity commercial transport options, as argued by some, how is it that Amtrak can just cancel one of its trains without offering an alternative to its customers? I have never heard of an airline or bus company doing so, unless they were going out of business.
The reason? The bus companies and airlines are not dependent on a host the way Amtrak is dependent on the contracted host freight line.
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the only alternative route would be CSX atl - montgomery - mobile - new orleans. unfortunately CSX has maintenance scheduled on this route at the same time. Its winter time and the class 1s move their maintenance to the southern part of the USA as much as possible.
Do not think that AMTRAK just sits on their hands with the waiting consist. The sunday night arrival in new orleans will have a complete consist of cars that need various refurbishment work. Hialeah ( Mia ) schedules New Orleans to do all they can on these cars until friday morning. All New Orleans maintenance personell work 12 / 12 with no time off for vacations during this time. do not know if any help is sent from other locations ?
Two additional thoughts struck me about this issue.
First, by not offering any alternative transport between Atlanta and New Orleans, at least in the sense of offering through ticketing, what is Amtrak saying about its customers on this train?
Second, if the Atlanta to New Orleans segment can do without the train for Monday through Thursday during January, would Amtrak be better off just running the train through to New Orleans on the weekends? Or replacing the train with buses or working with Megabus or another carrier to sell through tickets from points north of Atlanta to points south of Atlanta along the Crescent route.
Amtrak does this every year canel the train south Atlanta in Jan& Feb for NS doing they track work.
conrailman Amtrak does this every year canel the train south Atlanta in Jan& Feb for NS doing they track work.
I understand what you are saying. But what does canceling the train Monday - Thursday for more than a month say abouts its importance? Its pretty hard to argue that the train fills a critical transport need if Amtrak can just yank it from service for more than a month, at least on select days, and not offer alternative transport.
Sam1 conrailman Amtrak does this every year canel the train south Atlanta in Jan& Feb for NS doing they track work. I understand what you are saying. But what does canceling the train Monday - Thursday for more than a month say abouts its importance? Its pretty hard to argue that the train fills a critical transport need if Amtrak can just yank it from service for more than a month, at least on select days, and not offer alternative transport.
Says more about the historical passenger count during this period of the year than anything.
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Sam1 Two additional thoughts struck me about this issue. First, by not offering any alternative transport between Atlanta and New Orleans, at least in the sense of offering through ticketing, what is Amtrak saying about its customers on this train? Second, if the Atlanta to New Orleans segment can do without the train for Monday through Thursday during January, would Amtrak be better off just running the train through to New Orleans on the weekends? Or replacing the train with buses or working with Megabus or another carrier to sell through tickets from points north of Atlanta to points south of Atlanta along the Crescent route.
This is an annual event - or at least it has been for the past several years.
You are right about what it says about the need for this trains on the southern half of the route. The Southern only ran it three days a week in the 1970s. Amtrak made it daily. There is scant population on the route - Birmingham and Tuscaloosa (when school is in session) are about it until you get to New Orleans.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
schlimm The reason? The bus companies and airlines are not dependent on a host the way Amtrak is dependent on the contracted host freight line.
NS and Amtrak agreed to this arrangement because timekeeping with the trackwork would be abysmal -they would have to shift the schedule around the work windows. This is a single track line.
That Amtrak chooses not to "bustitute" says a lot about how essential this route is.
oltmannd The Southern only ran it three days a week in the 1970s. Amtrak made it daily. There is scant population on the route - Birmingham and Tuscaloosa (when school is in session) are about it until you get to New Orleans.
The Southern only ran it three days a week in the 1970s. Amtrak made it daily. There is scant population on the route - Birmingham and Tuscaloosa (when school is in session) are about it until you get to New Orleans.
I am working on a project where a state route intercity road is/will be closed completely for 3 years due to a bridge being taken out of service. I suppose it is all relative.
Amtrak pretty much has to take what is offered from the host railroad in the states that are not looking to supplement the capital costs. They should provide a bus however, if they were paid by the passenger mile as I suggest, I bet they would. The mainlines do need to be double-tracked however as all the cheap ways to add tonnage throughput have been used up. It will have to happen at some point may as well be sooner if we get the marketplace straight.
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