(The following story by Jay Felsberg appeared at EmeralcCoast.com on July 22, 2009.)
CRESVIEW, Fla. — Amtrak service for Crestview ended in 2005 when the Sunset Limited was suspended east of New Orleans due to damage from Hurricane Katrina and the costs associated with restoring service. Since then Crestview has had no passenger rail service, but that could change if recommendations from a recent federal report are adopted.
Amtrak recently submitted the report as part of Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 that reauthorizes the nation’s intercity passenger rail provider, Amtrak, and establishes new programs and policies to strengthen the U.S. intercity passenger rail system.
Section 226 requires Amtrak to develop a plan for restoring passenger rail service between New Orleans, Louisiana and Sanford. One of then options is restoration of the Sunset Limited through Crestview.
Amtrak initially evaluated 12 alternatives for restoring service between New Orleans, and Florida. Of the 12 alternatives, three were selected as preferred options for evaluation in the study based upon projected ridership, revenue, operating costs, and operating loss.
The preferred options are:
* Option 1: Restore tri-weekly Sunset Limited service between Los Angeles and Orlando, including Crestview.
* Option 2: Extend the daily City of New Orleans service, which currently operates between Chicago and New Orleans, east from New Orleans to Orlando.
* Option 3: Implement daily stand-alone overnight service between New Orleans and Orlando.
Each of the three proposed options would restore service between New Orleans and Orlando. This report assumes that all of the 19 stations between New Orleans and Orlando, including Crestview, would be served by the restored service.
Projected capital and mobilization costs for restored service are $32.7 million for Option 1 (tri-weekly Sunset Limited) and $57.6 million to $96.6 million for both Option 2 (daily City of New Orleans extension) and Option 3 (daily stand-alone train).
Crestview Mayor David Cadle said at the most recent city council meeting that he prefers Option 3. The Crestview city council has authorized Cadle to express that preference to Amtrak officials and other officials in the area.