2008 Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act could restore the Sunset Limited Rail service [View All]

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Between Jacksonville Florida and New Orleans! :woohoo:

Rail service could return for Tallahassee residents under Amtrak proposal

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Rail travel for Tallahassee residents could return under any of three options that Amtrak has proposed in a report the national passenger rail service was required to produce under the 2008 Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act.
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Amtrak officials initially evaluated 12 alternatives for restoring service between New Orleans and Orlando. Those were narrowed to three preferred options, based on projected ridership, revenue, operating expense and operating lost.

The first is restoring the Sunset Limited as it was before, with trains traveling three times weekly between Orlando and Los Angeles. Option 2 is extending the daily City of New Orleans service, a train that travels between Chicago and New Orleans. That service would continue into Florida and terminate in Orlando. Option 3 is implementing daily stand-alone overnight service between New Orleans and Orlando. Each option assumes that the 19 stations between New Orleans and Orlando would be served by the trains.

Option 1, the return of the Sunset Limited, would require the least expense in capital costs and mobilization, at $32.7 million.

More: http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090725/BREAKINGNEWS/90724020/Rail+service+could+return+for+Tallahassee+residents+under+Amtrak+proposal

I've been wanting to take a train trip for ages but since the rail lines were damaged during Katrina, the Sunset Limited service has been eliminated and we'd have to drive hundreds of miles to catch a train. And my husband wants to take a short trip before we commit to a long one - sensible man, he is. He wants to take a vacation along the Texas coast, so maybe that could be a trial trip.