|
|||
In This Issue
Contact Us |
Sunset Limited Route Added!The Sunset Limited Slide Show has been added to "Routes Currently Included". The Sunset Limited runs three days per week in both directions between Los Angeles and New Orleans. The train currently departs Los Angeles bound for New Orleans on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday and departs New Orleans bound for Los Angeles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  The Sunset Limited Stopped at Houston TX Before Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the route ran in both directions between Los Angeles, CA and Orlando, FL making it the only passenger train in our history to run from coast to coast as a single entity. To date service has not resumed between Orlando and New Orleans even though the railroad infrastructure has been restored and resumption of the suspended service is now possible. The newly uploaded Sunset Limited Slide Show presents both the active and suspended portions of the route with the hope that someday this service will be resumed between Orlando and New Orleans even though restart of the service seems highly unlikely to many observers. Unfortunately this grand train has become the political kicking boy for those in Washington and elsewhere who advocate that the portion of the Federal transportation budget that subsidizes Amtrak be allocated elsewhere. News stories, editorials and ideological arguments, both pro and con, abound on this subject and many special interest groups are ready to pounce on their prey. At Rail Passenger USA our predictable position is that Sunset Limited service be restored between Orlando and New Orleans. It is our overriding mission to promote the use of intercity rail passenger service in the United States of America with the goal of increasing our nation's energy efficiency while minimizing impacts to our environment and that of the world as we know it. In our judgment, the only way that this will happen is for those with the same or similar goals to contact their elected representatives and strongly present their positive arguments in favor of resuming service on this historic route. We have an excellent opportunity to be heard now given the political campaign window that will exist between now and the 2008 elections. The residents of the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana that have been directly impacted are not the only citizens that have a stake in restoring Sunset Limited service. Those of us that reside west of the Mississippi will soon witness similar radical service curtailments if we don't take strong and immediate action. We're hanging on by a thread as it is. You Easterners are more dependent on the railroads. Please continue and accelerate voicing your arguments for bolstering intercity rail passenger service. This nation was built around the railroads. Rail passenger service is not just a mode of transportation, but a link to our roots and heritage. If utilized to the extent possible, passenger trains can come back to serve us well in overcoming the problems now faced in the transportation, energy and other related industries both here and around the world. Happy rails to you! Ray York
Founder |
||
