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Jan
21
Riding into the Sunset
Posted by: Jeanne Foster in News & Politics

trainIn other parts of the country commuters and travelers have the option of train travel. And while we do have the physical lines in and out of Loyola Avenue to Chicago and San Antonio, the rates are never cheap and it never seems convenient verse air travel.

I always thought it would be nice if there was an affordable line to nearby locations. It costs $44 to get from Portland to Seattle and only $20 to travel from Charleston to Savannah.

And where the internet does contain many conflicting myths and facts regarding the safety, environmental and speed parameters of train travel, and I am not an expert or convinced of the truth on any of the issues- I would still like the choice.

Yesterday, the grassroots advocacy rail group Sunset Marketing and Revitalization Team, “SMART” held their first meeting to explore ways to improve train travel in the Gulf Coast Region. Amtrak disabled its Gulf Coast portion of the “Sunset Limited Service” that offered rail service from Los Angeles to Orlando after Hurricane Katrina.

If there was a way to get a high speed train to travel along the Gulf Coast, it seems like it would help tourism and commerce for all of those trying to overcome challenges faced by hurricanes.

I can imagine relaxing on a high-speed train, watching the bayou rush by, with a gossip trash mag and a cup of coffee on my way to the panhandle beaches. Or even finalizing a business plan en-route to meet a potential business partner in Mobile. If someone from the north was planning a trip and couldn’t decide on New Orleans verse the Biloxi Casinos, a train could help combine an adventure to both.

Badly needed redevelopment of the rail station in New Orleans could also revitalize the blighted area that greets tourist into our city. A visit to Union Station in DC and Grand Central in New York are staged as “must see” shopping and dining destinations to tourists.

Train travel may be a dying breed but I think that it should be looked at by officials in all Gulf Coast towns and cities as a way for the Gulf south to compete with other parts of the country.
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Comments:
Sam Winston on January 23rd, 2008 at 6:45 am #

Train travel rocks speaking from the perspective of living in Germany where the train is still king.

Think about going to the Florida coast and being able to safely have a cocktail or two on your way. Or not coming directly to your destination in Houston instead of paying for a cab or renting a car.

Red County, California: Carnival of Hurricane Relief, #122 on January 24th, 2008 at 1:39 pm #

[…] Riding into the SunsetAfter Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak shut down Gulf Coast service. Is there a way to get a high speed train along the Gulf Coast to help tourism and commerce? […]

Jim RePass on June 30th, 2008 at 8:32 am #

What is needed in my view is to create strategic alliances among state, Federal, and local government officials, and citizens groups, and the transportation companies/services both public and private themselves, to educate the legislatures (at all levels), governors, and Federal leadership of the need for better transportation infrastructure, especially rail. That’s what we do, and it has worked to some degree in the Northeast, where we were abloe to negotiate the release of funds needed to build the high speed line between Boston and New York, reducing travel times between those citiies from 5-1/2 hours to 3-1/2 I’d invite the Sunset group to contact us

Jim RePass
(A Prodigal Son of New Orleans, by the way)
jprepass@nationalcorridors.org

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