Sunset Limited rebirth?

[BridgeTroll]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-17/story/future_of_sunset_limited_train_service_through_jacksonville_unclear

Future of Sunset Limited train service through Jacksonville unclear

Money is a problem, of course, but some want to see rail service again.
By Larry Hannan
Story updated at 1:44 AM on Saturday, Oct. 17,


Timeline of passenger train service between New Orleans and Jacksonville:

Prior to 1971: Two railroads jointly operate the Gulf Wind between New Orleans and Jacksonville.

1971-84: No passenger rail service from New Orleans to Jacksonville after Amtrak is created in 1971.

1984-85: State-supported Gulf Coast Limited operates between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.

1985-93: No passenger rail service.

1993-96: Sunset Limited service goes from New Orleans to Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami.

1996-97: Sunset Limited dead-ends at Sanford.

1997-2005: Sunset Limited extends back to Orlando.

August 2005: Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast. Sunset Limited suspended east of New Orleans due to rail damage between there and Mobile.

2006-present: Tracks repaired. Sunset Limited remains suspended.

Source: Amtrak Gulf Coast service plan report

Jerry Sullivan is a rail enthusiast who wants to see Amtrak’s Sunset Limited service come back through Jacksonville.

“I probably took the Sunset 20 times over the years to see my grandchildren in Houston,” Sullivan said. “I don’t like to fly unless I have no other choice.”

Until 2005 the Sunset Limited ran from Orlando to Los Angeles going through Jacksonville. But service from here died when Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast in August 2005 and damaged CSX tracks between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.

The tracks have since been repaired, and CSX says it will allow the train back, but east-west service has not been restored.

It needs to come back, Sullivan said.

“As a nation we are heading toward a point where an automobile will be a luxury,” he said.

Earlier this year Amtrak released a study that found multiple ways to re-establish the route through Jacksonville:

n Resume three trains a week from New Orleans to Orlando, as the service was before Katrina, at a cost of $32.7 million.

n Extend the daily City of New Orleans train, which connects Chicago and New Orleans to Orlando, for $57.6 millon.

n Create daily overnight service between Orlando and New Orleans, for $96.6 million.

But it didn’t find the money to do any of it.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari  said it is now up to either Congress or the four states affected â€" Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana â€" to choose an option and come up with the financing to re-establish the service.

And they have done nothing since the study came out in July.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what happens now,” Sullivan said.

Amtrak also wants 13 stations along the route that shut down after Katrina to be restored. That would cost about $10.7 million. Among the stations are Sanford, Lake City, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile, Ala., and Biloxi, Miss.

The restoration will also require a combination of federal, state and local money, because most of the stations were owned by local governments.

This study was ordered by U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown,  D-Fla., who chairs a rail subcommittee and insisted that Amtrak look into re-establishing the route.

But Brown doesn’t want Sunset Limited to come back the way it was before Katrina, said Nick Martinelli,  her legislative director.

“The on-time performance of the old Sunset Limited was very poor,” Martinelli said. “Trains were getting into some stations at 2 a.m. and that made people reluctant to ride it.”

The other two options are worth looking at, and Brown will probably introduce legislation to fund at least part of the Sunset Limited service within the next year, Martinelli said.

“But we need the states to be our partners in this,” he said.

Brown has complained publicly about the government in Tallahassee not doing enough to encourage rail. But Nazih Haddad,  state Transportation Department manager for passenger rail development, said Congress must take the first step and fund the Sunset Limited.

Then, he said, the state and local governments can consider ways they can help out.

A grassroots advocacy organization, the Sunset Marketing and Revitalization Team, is meeting today  in Jacksonville to discuss re-establishing the Sunset service, the first time the 50-member group has met in Jacksonville. It usually meets in New Orleans, Sullivan said.

The meeting is at the Fellowship Hall of Deermeadows Baptist Church on Baymeadows Road, but it is closed to the public because of a lack of space.

larry.hannan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4470

[JeffreyS]

How about they web cast the meeting or let MJ live blog it.

[CS Foltz]

Tallahassee has yet to comment period regarding rail service. Charlie can pay lip service all he wants but has yet to do anything significant.......... like introducing a bill  or even a resolution! They seen to be as blind as the local Administration! Surely there is someone in either governments that has some kind of vision who can see the benefits of street cars or light rail of some kind.....................yea right , wish in one hand and s*** in the other and see which fills up first!

[JeffreyS]

I wonder why this project was not on our stimulus application.

[mtraininjax]

Corrine was in town yesterday with the President, as a longtime rail advocate, did anyone catch a soundbite from our representative? I heard her discuss the Mayport Carrier, but no rail.

[tufsu1]

I wonder why this project was not on our stimulus application.

maybe because there are no capital costs involved....it would all be operating expenses for Amtrak and so would be handled on a national level.

of course Amtrak has said they want support from the gulf coast states....I think our response was something like "show us you're committed and then we'll help somehow"

[JeffreyS]

So the stations do not need repair just to be staffed and maintained ?

[tufsu1]

correct....and the tracks were fixed in 2007 and 2008

[moosebumps]

This is pretty frustrating.  I am from Bay St. Louis, MS and found employment in Jacksonville a few months after Katrina.  Upon planning a trip home, I was dismayed to find out that the Sunset Limited had been suspended.  This was especially hard to swallow after I saw how quick the rail equipment in that area was repaired and made operational.  Yet still no passenger service.  

I'm not sure about the current status of the depot in Bay St. Louis, but it had been remodeled some years back and was in great shape prior to the hurricane.

I would love to jump on a train this holiday season and arrive in my hometown without battling highways or airports, but it's hard to support something that does not exist.  

[mtraininjax]

You could fly to ATL and take the Crescent home. The old Southern freight depot in Atlanta is a joke compared to the old Terminal they used to have there. At least we saved our station, Atlanta leveled it to make way for the Federal Reserve building.