Has anybody heard anything new about when the Gulf-coast route might be fixed?
Posted by gp35 (Member # 3971) on :
not until 2006.
Posted by SunsetLtd (Member # 3985) on :
Or later
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
There were major bridges taken out by Katrina along the Gulf Coast, for example one over a mile long at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. CSX is having to access New Orleans over NS out of either Birmingham or Meridian. Reconstruction of the bridges and tracks is underway. I would guess sometime about mid-year 2006 the train will be able to return.
Posted by kenchappell (Member # 2245) on :
I booked the Sunset from Orlando to Los Angeles just 2 weeks before Katrina hit. My departure from Orlando was due to be Thursday 1st June 2006.
Just a week ago I received an Email informing me that the sevice was disrupted (which of course I was aware of) and offering me Orlando / Washington / Chicago / LA. So it looks like the middle of 2006 might still be optimistic for the resumption of the full route
The routing offered was both too expensive and also too late for me to make my flights back to the UK so I settled for flying Orlando to Dallas and picking up the Eagle to LA. Quite interesting speaking to "Julie" from the UK - her voice recognition struggled with my English/Bristolian accent but I eventually got to speak to an agent.
Even with the routing that I settled for, it cost me as they don't just refund/charge the difference, they refund the full original booking (which included WAS to ORL) and recharge the new sum. Fine if there is no currency conversion but I got hit by the difference between the buying and selling rates on the full sums !!
Still that annoyance is small compared to the problems that those in the affected areas suffered.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
quote:Originally posted by kenchappell: )I settled for flying Orlando to Dallas and picking up the Eagle to LA.
If your new travel plans have you flying into Dallas a day before your 'Eagle' departs, you'll have an opportunity to sample the Trinity Railway Express commuter trains between Dallas and Ft. Worth as well as the Dallas light rail. Additionally, the 6th Floor Museum (site of the JFK assassination) is a short two block walk from the Dallas railroad station.
Posted by Geoff M (Member # 153) on :
quote:Originally posted by kenchappell: Quite interesting speaking to "Julie" from the UK - her voice recognition struggled with my English/Bristolian accent
Even English people have trouble understanding "ooh-arrr" Bristolian accents!! Only kidding. Anyway, I've had to try to fake an American accent to get her to understand me. "Those Yanks just ain't talking proper!" (or something like that, I can't remember the exact line, from some comedy sketch some time ago).
If your new travel plans have you flying into Dallas a day before your 'Eagle' departs, you'll have an opportunity to sample the Trinity Railway Express commuter trains between Dallas and Ft. Worth as well as the Dallas light rail. Additionally, the 6th Floor Museum (site of the JFK assassination) is a short two block walk from the Dallas railroad station.
Or, try TRE one way and Amtrak the other way - they use different routes.
Geoff M.
Posted by kenchappell (Member # 2245) on :
Thanks to David & Geoff for your suggestions for Dallas.
I will be flying into Dallas the day before picking up the Eagle so a little local track mileage will probably be investigated.