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RUMORS ARE HOT AND HEAVY THAT THE SUNSET WILL NOT BE EXTENDED EASTWARD PAST NEW ORLEANS. THIS COULD BE A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR RAIL SUPPORTERS TO PUSH FOR A SEPARATE NEW ORLEANS-JACKSONVILLE TRAIN TO CONNECT WITH ONE OF THE SILVER SERVICE TRAINS WITH THRU CARS TO FLORIDA POINTS. WITH THE PRESENT ROUTING AND SCHEDULING THE SILVER STAR WOULD PROBABLY BE THE MORE ATTRACTIVE TRAIN AS IT COULD OFFER DIRECT THRU SERVICE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO TAMPA AND MIAMI. THIS TOGETHER WITH THE LONG DISCUSSED SPLITTING OF THE SILVER METEOR AT JACKSONVILLE AND CHANGING ITS NORTHERN TERMINUS TO BOSTON (VIA THE INLAND ROUTE) WOULD STRENGTHEN THE FLORIDA SERVICE. WHILE MANY OF AMTRAK'S CRITICS HAVE CALLED FOR CUTS IN THIS AGE OF TIGHT BUDGETS AMTRAK SUPPORTERS SHOULD BE COUNTERING WITH WAYS TO MAKE EXISTING SERVICES STRONGER THRU ROUTING AND SCHEDULING ADJUSTMENTS IN ADDITION TO SELECTIVE ADDITIONS. AT PRESENT THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OUTSIDE THE CORRIDORS IS AT BEST SKELETAL BUT THATS THE WAY IT IS FOR NOW AND WE HAVE TO MAKE THE BEST OF IT. THE NEW ORLEANS-FLORIDA SERVICE I HAVE SUGGESTED WOULD MAKE CONNECTIONS IN NEW ORLEANS WITH A RESCHEDULED AND REROUTED SUNSET LIMITED RUNNING NEW ORLEANS-HOUSTON-FORT WORTH-EL PASO-LOS ANGELES AS WAS ORIGINALLY OUTLINED IN THE ILL FATED NETWORK GROWTH STRATEGY OF 2000. THRU CARS WOULD BE CARRIED NEW ORLEANS-LOS ANGELES VIA THE CONNECTION WITH THE TEXAS EAGLE AT FORT WORTH. WITH THE SUNSET NOT RUNNING ALL THE WAY TO FLORIDA ENOUGH EQUIPMENT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR A DAILY SUNSET/EAGLE. THE SAN ANTONIO-FORT WORTH SEGMENT WOULD CONTINUE NORTH TO CONNECT WITH THE SOUTHWEST CHIEF WITH THRU CARS SAN ANTONIO-CHICAGO. FORT WORTH WOULD BECOME A TRANSFER POINT FOR THIS ADJUSTED SERVICE. NONE OF MY SUGGESTIONS ARE NEW BUT I BELIEVE RAIL SUPPORTERS SHOULD PUSH FOR BETTER SERVICE THRU OFFERING POSITIVE ADJUSTMENTS RATHER THAN UNREALISTIC WISH LISTS.
amtrakwine Member # 4265
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Sounds good. There is presently no Fort Worth southwest chief connection. There has been talk of extending the Heartland flier from Oaklahoma city to Kansas to connect with Southwest Chief. By the way the Heartland flier is always a full train it has grown from 1 coach to 3 in 3 years. For all Sante Fe hicar fans the flier is running two.
RRRICH Member # 1418
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Bill - welcome to this forum!!! You seem to be someone who knows a lot about AMTRAK. Is your post based on some sort of "official information" or were those your personal thoughts about how to improve some of our connections?
Also, you don't need to post in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS -- some people see this as "yelling" at them!!!
Again, welcome!!
--Rich K in Florida
gp35 Member # 3971
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Anything that makes sense Amtrak never get around to it.
sojourner Member # 3134
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I too hope they reinstitute the Florida to New Orleans route. It might help to start it in Miami instead of Orlando. But I am definitely against your idea re de-linking in Jacksonville. When they do that, it often takes up time and causes delays, and the Florida trains are late enough as it is. Re starting a FL train in Boston instead of NYC: This could generate more business, especially if done with the proper fanfare, but right now you can take any NE Corridor train from Boston and catch the Meteor in either NYC or DC, so while the change would be helpful I don't think it's of vital importance.
What I think would be a good idea is to have some sort of train between FL and Atlanta.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Sojourner:
Since the state of Georgia can't even get a commuter train going on a railroad line willing to host it (NS's ex CofG line from Atlanta to Macon) the chances of seeing an Atlanta to Jacksonville train within the forseeable future are pretty dim.
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