From the attached, it appears that all the freight railroads affected by katrina restored their own service. Amtrack's Sunset Limited was still out in 2006, but see two entries farther down - it appears its in operation now. So it appears all rail lines affected by katrina are in operation. The link you posted - a map of designated high speed rail corriders - I can't see that it has anything to do with katrina. So your assertions about the stimulus bill and katrina-related rail damage seem to be erroneous at this point.
Due to the length of the material below, I'll address the rest of your post in a separate note.
onlinepubs.trb.org
CSX Transportation
CSX was the railroad most adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina. CSX sustained significant damage to two-thirds of its track mileage between Mobile and New Orleans and to its railroad bridges between Biloxi and New Orleans. The most severe storm impact was concentrated on the 100-mile section of CSX’s Gulf Coast Line between Pascagoula, Mississippi and New Orleans. The line, which in many areas parallels U.S. 90, suffered some of the same types of damage as the road. CSX has had to restore five major bridges and more than 40 miles of track, much of which was washed out or undermined (Figure 23). Damage was so extensive on the line that CSX required more than five months and $300 million to complete repairs and reopen the line. The major CSX rail yard in New Orleans also sustained significant damage and required considerable reconstruction. While repair work was underway, CSX coped by using the track of Amtrak Intercity Rail Service Routes
Amtrak-marketed “Thruway” Bus Service Routes Grenzeback and Lukmann 21
FIGURE 23 Remnants of the CSX Gulf Coast line.
other less-hard-hit railroads in the region and by rerouting freight interchanged with the western railroads as far north as the St. Louis Mississippi River crossing.9 CSX handles or interchanges more than 1,000 freight cars a day in the Gulf Coast region and serves more than 20 industries or ports. Temporary service changes included:
• Two trains each day rerouted through St. Louis;
• Two trains each day rerouted through Memphis;
• Three trains each day rerouted over the NS route (once it reopened);
• One train each day rerouted through Meridian to/from the KCS; and
• Traffic interchanged with CN was shifted from New Orleans to Mobile.
According to financial analysts, even though CSX was the most negatively impacted railroad, impact on rail revenue was insignificant. Neglecting interchange traffic, CSX only
delivered and received 23,000 merchandise carloads in all of Louisiana last year and a slim 15,000 carloads in Mississippi. Those figures represent only 0.5 percent of the company’s 7.5
million annual carloads. Although the interchange market is more significant to revenue, much of that traffic was rerouted to other interchange gateways. Merrill Lynch forecast that rail
revenue would be negatively impacted by less than two percent, “with interim costs contributingto a slightly larger negative impact in the near term.” Market analysts anticipated that additional shipments of commodities such as concrete and lumber for the rebuilding effort would make up for the lost carloads, while the capital repair and replacement costs will remain.10
Norfolk Southern
Although not affected to the same extent as CSX, Norfolk Southern’s line into New Orleans received significant damage. Nearly five miles of track were washed from the top of the
5.8-mile-long rail bridge and into the Lake Pontchartrain (Figure 24). Although Norfolk 9 Hurricane Katrina, presentation by Mark Hinsdale, CSX, at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January 5, 2006.
10 CSX Most Exposed In Transport Sector to Katrina. Forbes Magazine, 9/1/05. www.Forbes.com.
22 Case Study of the Transportation Sector’s Response to and Recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
FIGURE 24 Cranes used to right the rails on NS bridge.
Southern’s bridge crosses the lake in the vicinity of the I-10 Twin-Span Bridge and was exposed to the same catastrophic storm surge that destroyed that structure, none of the rail bridge’s spans were displaced. This is likely due to the presence of shear blocks built into the pier caps of the
bridge to limit lateral displacement. Beginning on August 31, Norfolk Southern began a major effort to repair the bridge as quickly as possible. Utilizing nine cranes on barges, crews were able to repair the bridge in its entirety only 16 days after the hurricane struck. Nine miles of track running through New Orleans proper also required major repairs due to washouts and other water-related problems.
Union Pacific
Union Pacific completed initial inspection of its main track and terminal facilities in and around New Orleans on August 31. By September 6, debris and fallen power lines were cleared from the track. Inspectors found no major damage to either the track structure or the Huey Long Bridge that UP uses to exchange cargo with the eastern railways. Local service west of New Orleans resumed on September 8. Interchange service with NS over the New Orleans gateway resumed on September 13 for traffic destined east of hurricane-embargoed points. All UP-CSX interchange traffic through New Orleans was rerouted to other gateways for the six months that the CSX Gulf Coast Line was out of service.
Burlington Northern-Santa Fe
BNSF’s line into the New Orleans area from the west was opened for service the evening of September 1, when repairs to the railway’s bridge over Bayou Boeuf at Morgan City, Louisiana
were completed. The bridge was damaged when it was struck by a barge floating loose and driven by the wind as the storm hit during the early morning hours of August 29.
Kansas City Southern
The Kansas City Southern Railway’s (KCSR) Meridian Speedway ine between Meridian, Mississippi and Shreveport, Louisiana sustained minor damage and was reopened late in the evening of August 31. The line was blocked by hundreds of downed trees and other obstructions between Meridian and Brandon, Mississippi. Reopening of the Meridian Speedway made Grenzeback and Lukmann 23
possible the restoration of rail service to local customers and to Norfolk Southern. NS utilizes the route as a link for its intermodal traffic moving between Meridian and Alliance, Texas.
Canadian National
CN received the least amount of damage of any of the Class I railroads. Although flooding took one of its intermodal terminals offline, service to the New Orleans area was restored on August 30, one day after the storm hit.
Amtrak
Amtrak runs passenger trains through the study area over the UP, NS, and CSX freight line. In the days immediately before and after Hurricane Katrina, all Amtrak service through the New
Orleans area was suspended. The north-south running City of New Orleans (from Chicago) was stopped at Memphis, Tennessee. Service was later restored as far south as Hammond, Louisiana,
and on October 8, 2005, Amtrak resumed service to New Orleans. The Crescent (from New York) was stopped at Atlanta, Georgia. As damage was repaired on the Norfolk Southern line,
Crescent service was extended to Meridian, Mississippi. Amtrak restored service to New Orleans on October 9, 2005. The Sunset Limited service (between Orlando and Los Angeles) west of New Orleans was truncated to San Antonio, Texas. Service resumed to New Orleans on November 4. East of New Orleans, the Sunset Limited runs over the CSX Gulf Coast line, a route heavily damaged by the storm. As a result, service was completely suspended between New Orleans and Orlando, Florida and had not been resumed as of August 2006. Amtrak has made no announcements regarding plans for resumption of service.
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en.wikipedia.org
As of 2009, the train operates three days a week in each direction. It uses cars of Amtrak's double-deck Superliner fleet.
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vacationsbyrail.com
Orlando - New Orleans - Houston - Los Angeles
Frequency:
Three days a week
Length of Trip:
68 Hours
Amenities:
Dining Car
Sightseer Lounge Car
Checked Baggage
Non Smoking
Feature Movies
Accommodations:
Reserved Coach Seat
Family Bedroom
Superliner Roomette
Superliner Accessible Bedroom
Superliner Bedroom
Superliner Bedroom Suite
Note: Not all trains offer all accommodation types.
Travel from one coast to another and watch the American landscape reinvent itself before your eyes.
Amtrak's Sunset Limited takes you between Florida and California, along our southern-most route. Settle back and watch the Gulf Coast, Bayou Country, Mexican border, southwestern deserts and California mountains pass by your window.
Three trains depart weekly in each direction. Services on the Sunset Limited include Superliner Sleeping and Dining Car accommodations, feature movies in the evening, and spectacular views from the renowned Sightseer Lounge Car.
Deboard in Alpine, Tex. to visit Big Bend National Park, or Tallahassee, Fla. to see alligators sun themselves at the world's deepest freshwater springs. If luxury is more your thing, Maricopa, Ariz. is the gateway to Phoenix and the resorts and spas of Scotsdale.
In season, onboard National Park Guides provide insights about the changing vista and natural heritage of the region you'll travel through. Sit back, relax, and learn as you take in the desert and coastal landscapes of this great American panorama.
As part of the Trails & Rails program, National Park Service guides from the Amistad National Recreation Area are onboard the Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Houston.
Trails & Rails is an innovative partnership program between Amtrak and the National Park Service. This program provides educational opportunities to Amtrak passengers for the purpose of fostering appreciation of America's natural and cultural heritage.
For more information, please download the Sunset Limited Route Guide or Amtrak's National Route Map.
Stations Served on RouteOrlando, FL
Winter Park, FL
Deland, FL
Palatka, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Lake City, FL
Madison, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Chipley, FL
Crestview, FL
Pensacola, FL
Atmore, AL
Sanderson, TX
Alpine, TX
El Paso, TX
Deming, NM
Lordsburg, NM
Benson, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Maricopa, AZ
Yuma, AZ
North Palm Springs, CA
Ontario, CA
Pomona, CA (POS)
Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
Mobile, AL
Pascagoula, MS
Biloxi, MS
Gulfport, MS
Bay St. Louis, MS
New Orleans, LA
Schriever, LA
New Iberia, LA
Lafayette, LA
Lake Charles, LA
Beaumont, TX
Houston, TX
San Antonio, TX
Del Rio, TX |
