Passenger Trains > Crescent's chronic lateness south of Atlanta

The Crescent's low passenger count between Atlanta and New Orleans is going to get lower, unless something is done about the train's poor timekeeping on this segment.
So far in May, No. 19 arrived in Meridian within 15 minutes of schedule only twice. The typical delays were from 45 to over 90 minutes. Northbound No. 20 has arrived in Atlanta only four times within 15 minutes of schedule. The average delay being 56 minutes. Maybe Amtrak should turn 19 and 20 into a New York to Atlanta only train.
The train's performance south of Atlanta is just dismal.

curt416 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Crescent's low passenger count between Atlanta
> and New Orleans is going to get lower, unless
> something is done about the train's poor
> timekeeping on this segment.
> So far in May, No. 19 arrived in Meridian within
> 15 minutes of schedule only twice. The typical
> delays were from 45 to over 90 minutes. Northbound
> No. 20 has arrived in Atlanta only four times
> within 15 minutes of schedule. The average delay
> being 56 minutes. Maybe Amtrak should turn 19 and
> 20 into a New York to Atlanta only train.
> The train's performance south of Atlanta is just
> dismal.

Why does cutting service solve anything, unless your real agenda is to get rid of Amtrak? A train with dismal timekeeping is better than none at all, and if we spent more per capita on our passenger trains than the Tunisians, things might be better.

Ptolemy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> curt416 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The Crescent's low passenger count between
> Atlanta
> > and New Orleans is going to get lower, unless
> > something is done about the train's poor
> > timekeeping on this segment.
> > So far in May, No. 19 arrived in Meridian
> within
> > 15 minutes of schedule only twice. The typical
> > delays were from 45 to over 90 minutes.
> Northbound
> > No. 20 has arrived in Atlanta only four times
> > within 15 minutes of schedule. The average
> delay
> > being 56 minutes. Maybe Amtrak should turn 19
> and
> > 20 into a New York to Atlanta only train.
> > The train's performance south of Atlanta is
> just
> > dismal.
>
> Why does cutting service solve anything, unless
> your real agenda is to get rid of Amtrak? A train
> with dismal timekeeping is better than none at
> all, and if we spent more per capita on our
> passenger trains than the Tunisians, things might
> be better.

The Crescent is a day train between Atlanta and New Orleans - one of the largest segments for a long distance train with Viewliners to travel. Traffic to New Orleans is very seasonal. If Amtrak reduces frequency south of Atlanta or cuts service, they would have enough sense to gauge when peak traffic season is south of Atlanta to New Orleans and add cars accordingly. The Atlanta train station limits the ability to cut a sleeper and coach, as the train really needs an extra Viewliner and coach north of Atlanta (i.e. three Viewliners NYP to Atlanta should be the norm).

Freight railroading is a cyclical business, and traffic levels are up with the economy. NS is basically a single-track railroad between Austell just west of Atlanta and New Orleans. Unlike Atlanta-Alexandria, the Austell-New Orleans part of Southern's main line was never double track. Delays are basically inevitable when freight traffic gets above a certain point. Except between Charlotte and Greensboro, where NCDOT is paying to have all the second track reinstalled, Southern's main line north of Atlanta actually has excess capacity -- still.

For a train running such a long distance, an hour tardy is not particularly troublesome from a ridership standpoint. If it was consistently 6 hours late (like the recent Empire Builder), then that would be a serious problem. An hour? not so much.