News Wire: 'Sunset Limited' reduced to twice-weekly service for seven weeks beginning Jan. 20

[charlie hebdo]

BaltACD

Amtrak is just emulating its predecessor - Class 1 railroads.  Make the 'service' so horrible only those in a vegatative state will consent to use it.

 

Amtrak has nothing to do with the 7-week hiatus. It is the Class 1 BNSF's mauntenance that is the reason.

[blue streak 1]

Instead of a chicken and egg situation this lack of service and not having at least 2 toud trips on each route 12 hours apart is turning into  =======

A chicken and rotten egg situation !

[BaltACD]

Amtrak is just emulating its predecessor - Class 1 railroads.  Make the 'service' so horrible only those in a vegatative state will consent to use it.

[alphas]

[quote user="daveklepper"]

"And of course, some handicapped and elderly would be deprived of their mobility, and  businesses dependent on tourism would suffer considerably, some going out of business."

 

I'm no spring chicken and my late wife had problems walking.     We still greatly preferred flying, especially Southwestern, over long rides on Amtrak.     I can't conceive of any tourist business depended on Amtrak.    Even the tourists Amtrak carries down to FL are a very, very small drop in the bucket.     

 

 

[JPS1]

daveklepper

.....and  businesses dependent on tourism would suffer considerably, some going out of business. 

Arguably, one of the most visited tourist stops along the route of the Sunset Limited is San Antonio.  Last year, according to San Antonio’s Travel and Tourism Bureau, 24.9 million people visited the Alamo City for leisure and 6.2 million arrived for business meeting, many of which were conventions.  It is a great convention city.  Most of the people visiting San Antonio fly or drive to the city. 

 

In 2017, 57,048 passengers got on or off of the Texas Eagle or the Sunset Limited in San Antonio.  The Texas Eagle has 14 San Antonio departures or arrivals daily; the Sunset Limited has six.  Assuming the same proportional relationship for entraining and detraining, approximately 17,114 riders got on or off the Sunset Limited in San Antonio in 2017.  Assuming they were all tourists, their percentage of the tourists visiting the Alamo City was .0687.  

 

If Amtrak discontinued the Sunset Limited or the Texas Eagle, assuming the passengers they carry to or from San Antonio would not use alternative transportation, the tourist needle would not budge. 

[runnerdude48]

daveklepper

And of course, some handicapped and elderly would be deprived of their mobility, and  businesses dependent on tourism would suffer considerably, some going out of business.

daveklepper

And of course, some handicapped and elderly would be deprived of their mobility, and  businesses dependent on tourism would suffer considerably, some going out of business.

Dave, get serious.  I'm elderly by any stretch of the imagination and I've given up traveling overnight by train because it is too uncomfortable and difficult and I am not handicapped in the least.  Those that are should forget the train and fly when they can because the planes are more handicapped friendly with the sky bridge right ot the door and even wheelchairs that fit the aisle.  No steps to climb or attendents who don't want to go to the dining car to get your meals.  If i was handicapped I can't imagine a worse form of transportation.  And, any tourist business that relies on the meazley number of passengers off the Sunset Limited is probably losing money anyway and shouldn't be in business to begin with. 

[daveklepper]

And of course, some handicapped and elderly would be deprived of their mobility, and  businesses dependent on tourism would suffer considerably, some going out of business.

[JPS1]

alphas

I remember that before the hurricane ended the New Orleans to Jacksonville part, someone in Bush's DOT stated that the Federal subsidy for someone traveling on it one-way coast-to-coast was something like $930.     He went on to say that it would be way cheaper for Amtrak to take the paid coach fair, contribute $100-$200, and buy the coach passenger an airline ticket. 

In FY17 the average subsidy for a Sunset Limited passenger was 45 cents per passenger mile. 

The distance from New Orleans to LAX is 1,995 miles.  A passenger traveling from NO to LAX would require a subsidy of $897.75 for the rail fare alone.  On top of that, assuming h/she eats in the dining car or lounge car, she gets at least five subsidized meals.  

A non-stop flight on Southwest Airlines on January 30 could cost as little as $99 for a Wanna-Get-Away fare.  The flight would take 4 hours, 35 minutes.  United Airlines has business class fares starting at $439 for the same date.  Both fares are for noon flights.  Some earlier or later flights have substantially higher fares.

Only about 10 percent of the Amtrak’s long-distance passengers ride end point to end point.  So, as the argument goes, the cost comparisons change dramatically if one is comparing the cost of riding the Sunset Limited from Alpine, TX to Tucson, AZ as an example. Air is out of the question or costs an arm and a leg on regional carriers. True.! But driving or taking a bus could be cheaper, and probably cost the taxpayers less.

[alphas]

I remember that before the hurricane ended the New Orleans to Jacksonville part, someone in Bush's DOT stated that the Federal subsidy for someone traveling on it one-way coast-to-coast was something like $930.     He went on to say that it would be way cheaper for Amtrak to take the paid coach fair, contribute $100-$200, and buy the coach passenger an airline ticket.   

[blue streak 1]

Wonder why it could have been run a different day keeping it 3 days a week ?

[JPS1]

Twice weekly for the Sunset Limited!  Very few people in the communities served will even notice.  

The Sunset Limited may have been sold out on January 4th, but it probably was due to the heavy holiday period traffic.  For FY18 the average load factor for the Sunset Lmited was 49%. 

It was on-time at its end points an average of 49.4% in FY18, which was down from 68.3% in FY17.

In FY18 the Sunset Limited had an adjusted operating loss of $35.1 million compared to $34.8 million in FY17.    

Amtrak should use this opportunity to discontinue the Sunset Limited.  It is not a serious passenger transportation option for all but a tiny fraction of the population.

[Brian Schmidt]

Atlanta-New Orleans weekday'Crescent' shutdown also set to begin

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/01/sunset-limited-reduced-to-twice-weekly-service-for-seven-weeks-beginning-jan-20