Passenger Trains > Quietest Amtrak stations

Amtrak's Cardinal wins top honors, 4 of the 5 top stations award for fewest passengers!!  Does a slow tri-weakly schedule, eastbound on-time performance just over 30% (1), with a reduced consist having anything to do with winning this award? 

You decide...

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/texas-sanderson-quietest-train-station-us-b2636087.html

A sparsely populated town in Texas is home to the least-used Amtrak train station in America, only receiving 247 passengers within a year.

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, spans across 21,000 route miles in 46 states in the US, operating more than 300 trains a day.

While traveling by bus or car is often a popular way of traversing the vast American landscape, there are 500 destinations across the country that Amtrak connects.

However, some stations in remote areas are hardly used, struggling to even reach 300 passengers a year.

In Amtrak data analyzed by MailOnline, it was revealed that Sanderson, an area in Terrell County, Texas, with a population of only around 700 people, received 247 passengers at its station in 2023.

Despite its low passenger use, the station got a $3m makeover in 2021, with a new open-air shelter, concrete platform and walkways to make the station more accessible.

The station is served six times a week, westbound and eastbound, by the long-distance Sunset Limited train that runs from New Orleans to San Antonio, then to Los Angeles for a 48-hour-long journey, as well as the 32-hour Texas Eagle, which departs from Chicago on its way to Los Angeles.

While only a small town, Sanderson has come to be known as the “Cactus Capital of Texas”, and is also an important livestock grazing center.

There has been a train stop at Sanderson since the 1880s, and despite its modern reconstruction over the years, the station is still without wifi or toilets.

Next on the list of the quietest stations is Montgomery, West Virginia, which only saw 266 passengers use the station in 2023 in this small community located next to the Kanawha River.

The station is served by the long-distance Cardinal train, which departs three days a week between New York and Chicago for a 26-and-a-half-hour journey.

Four stops down are Alderson, West Virginia, which the MailOnline’s data analysis has identified as the third least-used station in the US, with 399 passengers.

Fourth is Thurmond, West Virginia, which is only a stop away from Montgomery, serving only 466 passengers last year.

Changing states, the fifth-quietest station in the country can be found in Rensselaer, Indiana. While the town is much larger than the other stops on the list and close to Chicago in the neighboring state, the station only received 509 passengers in 2023.

Only two stops away from Chicago, the station is also served by the Cardinal train.

These stations are a long way away from reaching the heights of the US busiest station,  Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station in New York, which received over 10.2 million passengers in 2023.

With 650,000 daily commuters, this Manhattan station has Amtrak trains passing through, as well as NJ Transit, Long Island Rail Road and the subway all stopping at this busy station.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/24 01:37 by GenePoon.

Rather than Alpine, Sanderson, and Del Rio, TX, on the ex-SP Sunset Route, move The Sunset Limited to the ex-MP route with the population centers of Odessa, Midland, and Big Spring, TX, thereby creating substantial running time savings on the way to Ft. Worth, TX.  Service east of San Antonio, TX to New Orleans, LA could be maintained via the current Texas Eagle south of Fort Worth, TX, and extended east to New Orleans.  Further improvements are possible under this (John A.) "Mills plan" presented to Graham Claytor over 40+ years ago.  Dr. Bill Pollard, Conway, AR, should have complete knowledge of the proposal.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/24 14:52 by SandHouseTalk.

It looks quiet here...
 

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Took this picture from the train in Benson. It was a quiet day 

 

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One horse town?
jb

SandHouseTalk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rather than Alpine, Sanderson, and Del Rio, TX, on
> the ex-SP Sunset Route, move The Sunset Limited to
> the ex-MP route with the population centers of
> Odessa, Midland, and Big Spring, TX, thereby
> creating substantial running time savings on the
> way to Ft. Worth, TX.  Service east of San
> Antonio, TX to New Orleans, LA could be maintained
> via the current Texas Eagle south of Fort Worth,
> TX, and extended east to New Orleans.  Further
> improvements are possible under this "Mills plan"
> presented to Graham Claytor over 40+ years ago. 
> Dr. Bill Pollard, Conway, AR, should have complete
> knowledge of the proposal.

Warrington's Network Strategy Growth Plan of the late 1990s (aka M&E expansion) had the Sunset re-routed as you had mentioned, but then making a southeast turn to get back on the existing route. 

" Sanderson ... received 247 passengers"

Think that's arrivals, or arrivals plus departures?

SandHouseTalk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rather than Alpine, Sanderson, and Del Rio, TX, on
> the ex-SP Sunset Route, move The Sunset Limited to
> the ex-MP route with the population centers of
> Odessa, Midland, and Big Spring, TX, thereby
> creating substantial running time savings on the
> way to Ft. Worth, TX.  Service east of San
> Antonio, TX to New Orleans, LA could be maintained
> via the current Texas Eagle south of Fort Worth,
> TX, and extended east to New Orleans.  Further
> improvements are possible under this "Mills plan"
> presented to Graham Claytor over 40+ years ago. 
> Dr. Bill Pollard, Conway, AR, should have complete
> knowledge of the proposal.


Yeah, good luck in getting UP to go along with this proposal. UP would be very happy if they discontinued the Sunset all together.

Is there ANY Class One that’s happy to host Amjoke?

Regards

Posted from iPhone

It is doubtful that the Sanderson stop will be discontinued; it is a "fresh air" (smoking) opportunity for passengers.

Drknow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there ANY Class One that’s happy to host
> Amjoke?
>
> Regards
>
> Posted from iPhone

cpkc  SAID THEY WOULD IN MERGER DOCUMENTS

Of course triweekly service is a factor in the low ridership. It is also a factor at every other station on these 2 routes.

Posted from Android

Uber

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Of course triweekly service is a factor in the low
> ridership. It is also a factor at every other
> station on these 2 routes.

Rensselaer, IN, used to have daily service, with the Cardinal and Hoosier State. Back around 2015 or so, a private railroad company (the name escapes me) took over the Hoosier State service and promised improved service. They had an employee at the freshman orientation of St. Joseph's College in 2015 touting the service which I thought might bode well for the future of the service. The company apparently lost too much money and eventually gave up--which ended the Hoosier State service. The college also gave up a couple of years later, which might explain part of the low ridership now, although I have no idea how many students or staff used the service. 
I don't know what kind of ridership the Monon had back in the '60s when I was a student, but we had lots of guys from the Chicago area and most did not have cars. There was also bus service. Sadly, the Monon abandoned passenger service during my senior year (1967). 

Just leave Alpine alone :-)

Posted from iPhone