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I have not heard of any plans to cancel the Texas Eagle.  The number of riders on the Eagle increased 4.9 per cent during the first six months of FY 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.  Passengers booking sleeping car space declined by 8.5 per cent.  Due to the late running of the southbound train, especially south of Fort Worth, I suspect that the number of riders has declined south of Dallas/Fort Worth, although I don't have any data to support my conclusion, other than several observations of the number of passengers entraining and detraining at Austin and Temple.  The schedule performance for the Eagle deteriorated significantly during the first six months of 2008.  The train was nearly two hours late, on average, arriving into San Antonio.  The passenger per mile loss for the Eagle increased to 23.2 cents a mile, up from approximately 19 cents a mile in 2007.  The increase was probably due to increased fuel costs and lower sleeping car revenues, offset in part by higher coach revenues.  As long as Kay Bailey Hutchison is the senior Senator from Texas, I doubt that Amtrak will attempt to discontinue the Eagle.  She has been a strong supporter of the train.  In addition, the Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization (TEMPO), which consists of a few dedicated supporters of the Eagle, as well as the Heartland Flyer, and is credited with blocking a previous attempt to discontinue the Eagle, would probably fight tooth and nail to keep the train.According to TEMPO and NARP, discontinuance of the Eagle would result in a discontinuance of the Heartland Flyer.  I have not seen any hard data (number of passengers connecting with the Eagle) to support that theory.
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