The Sunset Limited is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has run between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it ran between Orlando and Los Angeles, and from 1993 to 1996, continued on to Miami (via the Silver Meteor's route). It is the oldest continuously operating named train in the United States, introduced in 1894 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and acquired by Amtrak upon its formation in 1971.

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Sunset Limited

The Sunset Limited eastbound in Florida in 2004
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Southern United States
First service	1894 (1894)
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Former operator(s)	Southern Pacific (1894–1971)
Annual ridership	57,562 (FY21) −38.0%[1][lower-alpha 1]
Route
Termini	Los Angeles, California New Orleans, Louisiana
Stops	20
Distance travelled	1,995 mi (3,211 km)
Average journey time	45 hours, 40 minutes (eastbound) 46 hours, 35 minutes (westbound)[2]
Service frequency	Three round trips per week
Train number(s)	1 (westbound) 2 (eastbound)
On-board services
Class(es)	Coach Class Sleeper Service
Disabled access	Train lower level, all stations
Sleeping arrangements	Roomette (2 beds) Bedroom (2 beds) Bedroom Suite (4 beds) Accessible Bedroom (2 beds) Family Bedroom (4 beds)
Catering facilities	Dining car, Café
Observation facilities	Sightseer lounge car
Baggage facilities	Overhead racks, checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stock	GE Genesis Superliner
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	44 mph (71 km/h) (avg.) 79 mph (127 km/h) (top)
Track owner(s)	UP, BNSF
Route map Legend 4321 mi 6954 km Service suspended to Orlando 4321 mi 6954 km Service suspended to Orlando Silver Service to Miami Orlando Winter Park Sanford Deland Palatka Jacksonville Silver Service to New York Lake City Madison Tallahassee Eastern Time Central Time Chipley Crestview Pensacola FL AL Atmore Mobile AL MS Pascagoula Biloxi Gulfport Bay St. Louis MS LA 0 mi New Orleans Huey P. Long Bridge over Mississippi River 55 mi 89 km Schriever 127 mi 204 km New Iberia 145 mi 233 km Lafayette 219 mi 352 km Lake Charles LA TX 330 mi 531 km Beaumont 362 mi 583 km Houston Texas Eagle to Chicago 572 mi 921 km San Antonio 742 mi 1194 km Del Rio 867 mi 1395 km Sanderson 959 mi 1543 km Alpine Central Time Mountain Time 1177 mi 1894 km El Paso TX NM 1265 mi 2036 km Deming 1325 mi 2132 km Lordsburg NM AZ 1443 mi 2322 km Benson 1493 mi 2403 km Tucson 4321 mi 6954 km Pre-1996 route via Phoenix 4321 mi 6954 km Pre-1996 route via Phoenix Coolidge Tempe Phoenix 1579 mi 2541 km Maricopa 1744 mi 2807 km Yuma AZ CA Mountain Time Pacific Time Indio Closed 1998 1889 mi 3040 km Palm Springs Southwest Chief to Chicago 1956 mi 3148 km Ontario 1963 mi 3159 km Pomona Alhambra Closed 1975 Coast Starlight to Seattle Pacific Surfliner 1995 mi 3211 km Los Angeles This diagram: view talk edit

Along with the Cardinal, this train is one of Amtrak's two long-distance services which operate just three days a week.[3] Consequently, the Sunset Limited carried the third-fewest passengers of any Amtrak train in fiscal year 2019, 92,827, a 4.4% decrease over FY2018. It had a total revenue of $10,769,179 in 2016, marking a 7.5% decrease over FY2015.[4][5]

Route

This section does not cite any sources. (August 2021)

For most of its existence, the Sunset Limited route was owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The name Sunset Limited traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, a Southern Pacific subsidiary which was known as the Sunset Route as early as 1874.

Most of the current route from New Orleans westward is now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, which acquired Southern Pacific in 1996. However, the route within Louisiana and some of Texas was partially sold to BNSF Railway[6] in 1995 in return for BNSF not objecting to the UP-SP merger.

On the portion of the route east of New Orleans, service was suspended after Hurricane Katrina. Those tracks, between New Orleans and Florida, include parts of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad—all now merged into CSX Transportation. Currently, the segment of the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad between DeLand and Orlando is owned by Orlando's commuter service SunRail, and the segment of track from Pensacola to Baldwin is now owned by the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad.

The train uses the following route segments, identified here by the names of their original owners:

Timetable notes

Service on the Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Florida has been suspended since August 29, 2005, because the rail line in the path of Hurricane Katrina east of New Orleans was washed out. The operating railroad CSX restored the line itself between New Orleans and Jacksonville. However, in 2006, Amtrak said it was deemed too expensive to rebuild to modern passenger rail standards. In 2016 Amtrak proposed to return the Sunset Limited service to Florida in the near future.

Eastbound trains leave Los Angeles on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Westbound trains leave New Orleans on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The journey takes two days to complete in either direction. In its present form, the eastbound Sunset Limited leaves Los Angeles in the late evening, traveling overnight through Arizona before arriving at breakfast time in Tucson and mid-afternoon in El Paso. After traveling through west Texas overnight, it separates from the Texas Eagle in San Antonio. Resuming the second day of the trip, it arrives in Houston at lunchtime, Lafayette at rush hour, and New Orleans in the middle of the night. The westbound train leaves New Orleans just after rush hour, arriving in Lafayette at lunchtime and in Houston just after the afternoon rush. It then joins the Texas Eagle just after midnight and travels overnight through west Texas before arriving in El Paso at lunchtime the following afternoon and in Tucson and Maricopa at dinner time. After traveling overnight through Arizona and California, it arrives in Los Angeles before breakfast.

The Texas Eagle, which runs daily between San Antonio and Chicago, operates as a section of the Sunset Limited on the days the latter train operates. At San Antonio, a through coach and a through sleeper from the Texas Eagle combine with the Sunset Limited for the journey westward and split eastward. When combined with the Sunset Limited, the Texas Eagle is numbered as 421 westbound and 422 eastbound.

Ridership

Traffic by Fiscal Year (October–September)

	Ridership	Change over previous year	Ticket Revenue	Change over previous year
2007[7]	63,336	-	$6,955,881	-
2008[7]	71,719	013.2%	$8,052,515	015.8%
2009[7]	78,775	09.8%	$8,272,084	02.7%
2010[8]	91,684	016.4%	$9,962,415	020.4%
2011[8]	99,714	08.8%	$11,138,286	011.8%
2012[9]	101,217	01.5%	$11,584,844	04.0%
2013[9]	102,924	01.7%	$12,275,400	06.0%
2014[10]	105,041	02.1%	$12,597,724	02.6%
2015[10]	100,713	04.1%	$11,639,368	07.6%
2016[4]	98,079	02.6%	$10,769,179	07.5%
2017[11]	99,000	00.9%	-	-
2018[12]	97,078	01.9%	-	-
2019[12]	92,827	04.4%	-	-
2020[13]	55,118	038.9%	-	-

History

v t e Sunset Limited
Legend
Crescent to Washington D.C. New Orleans New Orleans–Carrollton Ave. Avondale Morgan City Franklin Jeanerette New Iberia Lafayette Rayne Crowley Mermentau Jennings Welsh Lake Charles Sulphur Vinton LA TX Orange Beaumont Liberty Houston Rosenberg East Bernard Eagle Lake Columbus Weimar Schulenburg Flatonia Waelder Harwood Luling Seguin Randolph Field San Antonio Lacoste Dunlay Hondo D'Hanis Sabinal Knippa Uvalde Cline Spofford Del Rio Devil's River Comstock Langtry Pumpville Lozier Watkins Dryden Sanderson Longfellow Tesnus Haymond Marathon Alpine Paisano Marfa Valentine Lobo Hot Wells Sierra Blanca Small Finlay McNary Fort Hancock Tornillo Fabens Clint Ysleta Central Time Mountain Time El Paso TX NM Afton Cambray Deming Gage Separ Lordsburg Steins NM AZ San Simon Bowie Wilcox Cochise Dragoon Benson Mescal Empire Vail Cruz Tucson Cortaro Rillito Marana Red Rock Picacho Eloy Casa Grande Maricopa Gila Sentinel Aztec Mohawk Wellton Yuma AZ CA Mountain Time Pacific Time Ogilby Glamis Niland Salton Mecca Thermal Coachella Indio Palm Springs Cabazon Banning Beaumont Redlands Loma Linda Colton Bloomington South Fontana Guasti Ontario Pomona Puente Bassett El Monte San Gabriel Alhambra Los Angeles–Arcade closed 1914 Los Angeles–Central 1914 to 1956 Los Angeles cut back 1942 Santa Barbara San Francisco

Southern Pacific

Before the start of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, the Sunset Limited was operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Sunset Limited is the oldest named train in the United States, operating since November 1894 along the Sunset Route (though originally named the Sunset Express). The Sunset Route (originating in New Orleans) is the southernmost of the three gateways to the West Coast envisioned through the Pacific Railroad Acts. The other two embarked from Chicago and St. Louis. However, the Sunset Route had two major advantages over the other two routes. It was an all-weather, year-round route that did not face the crippling snows of the Wasatch or Sierra mountain ranges to reach the Pacific Coast. Additionally, the other two routes had to assault the front range of the Rockies.

In addition, opened 20 years before the Panama Canal, the Sunset Route vastly shortened the time to reach the West Coast from the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, as New Orleans was already an established seaport for Atlantic shipping lines’ passengers, seeking to reach the US interior. The Sunset Limited allowed passengers to reach the West Coast in a few days, not weeks.

The Sunset Limited was Southern Pacific's premier train.[14] Initially, the Sunset Limited was an all-Pullman train, with sleeping cars and no coaches, running from New Orleans to San Francisco via Los Angeles.[15] From its beginning in 1894, until streamlining in 1950, all the train's cars had 6-wheel trucks and dark olive green paint, with black roofs and trucks. In the summer of 1926, it was scheduled at 71 hr 40 min New Orleans to San Francisco; it then carried a coast-to-coast sleeper from Jacksonville to Los Angeles.

In contrast to its earliest Amtrak years,[16] the Sunset Limited, up to its later years, made stops not only at Phoenix, but also at Mesa and Chandler, Arizona.[17]

Amtrak

Amtrak left the Sunset unchanged, while it dropped the Louisville & Nashville's Gulf Wind, which operated between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida. The tracks between these two points remained unused by passenger trains until April 29, 1984, when an Amtrak train called the Gulf Coast Limited, running between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, began service, seeking to regenerate some form of regional intercity rail traffic between large cities outside the Northeast. However, this train only lasted until January 6, 1985. Almost five years later, on October 27, 1989, the track segment between Mobile and Flomaton, Alabama, came into passenger train use as part of the route of the Gulf Breeze. This was another attempt to regenerate regional inter-city rail traffic, this time between Birmingham, Alabama, and Mobile. The train was a reestablishment of the Mobile section of Amtrak's New York City–New Orleans Crescent. It branched from the Crescent's route at Birmingham, turning south toward Montgomery, Flomaton, and terminating in Mobile. The Gulf Breeze was discontinued in 1995.^{[citation needed]}

Meanwhile, on April 4, 1993, passenger service was reestablished along the entire New Orleans–Jacksonville corridor with the extension of the Sunset Limited to Miami,[18] using the route of Amtrak's Silver Meteor south of Jacksonville; it was serviced at Amtrak's Hialeah yards for the return trip. It was only the second direct rail link between Orlando and Miami, following local trains by the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Coast Line in the mid-1960s. However, schedule unreliability caused the Sunset Limited's eastern terminus to be truncated to Sanford on November 10, 1996. Service was re-extended to Orlando on October 26, 1997, and the train deadheaded (operated empty) between Orlando and Sanford for servicing. Sanford was, and still is, the servicing point for Amtrak's Auto Train.^{[citation needed]}

On September 22, 1993, the three locomotives and four of the eight cars of the eastbound Sunset Limited derailed and fell off a damaged bridge into water near Mobile, Alabama, in Amtrak's worst train wreck, the Big Bayou Canot rail accident. 47 people died.[19] On October 9, 1995, saboteurs derailed the Sunset Limited near Harqua, Arizona by removing 29 spikes from a section of track, and short-circuited the signal system to conceal the sabotage. The attack killed one person and injured dozens of others. The crime still remains unsolved.[20]

On June 2, 1996, the Sunset Limited was rerouted to a more southerly route between Tucson, and Yuma, Arizona, bypassing Phoenix. Union Pacific, which had acquired Southern Pacific earlier in the year, wanted to abandon a decaying portion of its Phoenix–Yuma "West Line" that had previously been used to serve Phoenix.^{[citation needed]} This made Phoenix one of the nation's largest cities without direct passenger service; although the designated Phoenix-area stop is in Maricopa, a suburban community about 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Phoenix. Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach service, run by Stagecoach Express, connects the two cities.[21]

The Sunset received a better schedule on May 7, 2012, moving its westbound movements from New Orleans to a Monday, Wednesday, Saturday circuit. The times allow several 7- to 12-hour rides between major-city pairs; for example, overnight between Tucson or Maricopa (for Phoenix) and Los Angeles in both directions.[22]

Since 1981, the Texas Eagle has operated as a section of the Sunset Limited. A coach and sleeper from the Texas Eagle split from the eastbound Sunset Limited in San Antonio and continue to Chicago, combining with the westbound Sunset Limited for the journey to Los Angeles. The Texas Eagle runs independently between Chicago and San Antonio for the rest of the week. Between October 2020 and May 2021, the Texas Eagle ran tri-weekly due to massive service reductions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[citation needed]}

A Sunset Limited Consist includes two GE P42DC Locomotives, a Viewliner II Baggage Car, a Superliner transition Sleeper, a Superliner sleeper, a Superliner dining car, a Superliner sightseer lounge car, a Superliner coach-baggage car, two Superliner coaches and a Superliner Sleeper at the rear.^{[citation needed]}

Hurricane Katrina service suspension

On August 29, 2005, the Sunset Limited route was truncated at San Antonio, Texas, as a result of damage to trackage in the Gulf Coast area caused by Hurricane Katrina. In late October 2005, service was restored between San Antonio and New Orleans, as the line through Louisiana had been repaired.^{[citation needed]}

As time has passed, particularly since the January 2006 completion of the rebuilding of damaged tracks east of New Orleans by their owner CSX Transportation Inc., the obstacles to restoration of the Sunset Limited's full route have been more managerial and political than physical. Advocates for the train's restoration have pointed to revenue figures for Amtrak's fiscal year 2004, the last full year of coast-to-coast Sunset Limited service. During that period, the Orlando–New Orleans segment accounted for 41% of the Sunset's revenue.[23]

Section 226 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 16, 2008, gave Amtrak nine months to provide Congress with a plan for restoring service that "shall include a projected timeline for restoring such service, the costs associated with restoring such service, and any proposals for legislation necessary to support such restoration of service."[24]

As of 2022^[update], Amtrak's schedules and maps describe the route between Mobile and Orlando as suspended.[21]

New Gulf Coast train service

In January 2016, Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission announced jointly that a Gulf Coast passenger rail inspection trip was to be made from New Orleans to Jacksonville, with elected officials among those on board during the February 18–19 excursion. Stops were planned for all of the stations formerly part of the Sunset Limited's route between those two cities.[25] In June 2018, the commission missed the deadline for submitting a request for service restoration along the Gulf. It said that it could not apply for the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) fiscal-year 2017 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety and Improvements (CRISI) funding because Alabama and Mississippi were unwilling to assist with funds. Alabama's share would have been $5.3 million. The Louisiana governor, on the other hand, was willing to provide the funds. The three states' cooperation was needed to secure the $35.5 million in federal CRISI funds.[26]

In June 2019, the Federal Railroad Administration announced a grant award of $33 million to restore Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, and to upgrade tracks, stations, and other facilities to support improved passenger rail service. The grant was matched by funds from Louisiana, Mississippi, and the city of Mobile. Officials announced plans for up to four daytime rail trips per day within 24 months, serving the cities of New Orleans, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula. Having received a commitment of support from the City of Mobile, if the state of Alabama participates, service could be extended to downtown Mobile.[27][28]

On February 23, 2021, following the conclusion of one year negotiations with CSX and Norfolk Southern, Amtrak officials announced that Gulf Coast Service between New Orleans and Mobile would start as early as January 2022.[29] Amtrak plans to pay for repairs along the route.[30] As of late 2022, this has not fully happened yet.

Potential daily service

In 2009, Brian Rosenwald, a now-departed Amtrak executive, outlined ideas for a complete overhaul of the route, including daily service.[31] It was to have the Texas Eagle operate over the Sunset's route west of San Antonio, with a stub train connecting San Antonio (with a cross-platform transfer) and New Orleans. The plans were halted when Union Pacific stated that to get a daily Sunset Limited, Amtrak would need to pay $750 million for infrastructure improvements.[32]

Passenger totals would double with daily service, according to the PRIIA study that looked at Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited service. It forecast an incremental improvement of more than 100,000 passengers from the daily service, which is already running in excess of 100,000 a year.[33] In the meantime, the Union Pacific has double-tracked much of the route with its own money. However, Amtrak still lacks the equipment and funds needed to move to daily service.

In June 2021, Senator Jon Tester of Montana added an amendment to the Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021 which would require the Department of Transportation (not Amtrak itself) to evaluate daily service on all less frequent long-distance trains, meaning the Sunset Limited and Cardinal.[34] The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee with bipartisan support,[35][36] and was later rolled into President Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Congress passed on November 5, 2021.[37] The report must be delivered to Congress within two years.[38]

References

Further reading

Notes

External links

• Media related to Sunset Limited at Wikimedia Commons
• Sunset Limited – Amtrak