Amtrak Partial "Sunset East" Pensacola - Jacksonville

https://www.al.com/news/2023/04/will-al ... utType=amp

I came across this the other day. While the article is ostensibly about Atmore, AL, which is east of Mobile and won't see service with the new Mobile trains, it contained information about a study for Northwestern Florida service along the former Sunset route.

The article says that a huge hurtle is a yard that creates a bottleneck between Mobile and Pensacola. So would a service from Pensacola to Jax be "worth the squeeze"? The article notes that service could be extended to Orlando or Miami (I'm thinking Tampa in lieu of the Star, which would undergo a schedule change).

The article mentions that in lieu of a through train, that a bus could bridge the gap from Mobile to Pensacola.

...
Hope springs anew, thanks to efforts led by Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves. A grant application by the city of Pensacola seeks $500,000 for the study of a Northwest Florida Passenger Rail Corridor through the Federal Railroad Administration’s corridor identification and development program.
...
The analysis will look at connecting Pensacola and the Florida cities to its east – Crestview, Chipley, Tallahassee, Madison, and Lake City – to Jacksonville. The analysis will also look at extending passenger rail service south from Jacksonville to Orlando.

The analysis will also include connecting Pensacola to the Gulf Coast route to New Orleans.
...

It's a novel way to funnel money to some consultants...

Taking a bus between Mobile and Pensacola to hop on a trin? Might as well just stay on the bus to Jacksonville. It'll be faster.

eolesen wrote: ↑Thu Apr 06, 2023 3:23 pm It's a novel way to funnel money to some consultants...

Taking a bus between Mobile and Pensacola to hop on a trin? Might as well just stay on the bus to Jacksonville. It'll be faster.

Maybe, but looking at OpenStreetMap, I can see why: You have to go north to go west. There's no more direct track between Mobile and Pennsicola. Granted, given enough time, money, and sheer strength to ignore NIMBYs, you could put a track down I-10 and I-110 to meet up with existing track and the old station.

Here's the thing, though. A bus will take an hour to get from Mobile to Pensacola's station, and 8 hours to get all the way to Orlando. By rail, per old schedules pre-Katrina, took 4 hours to get to Pensacola... and another 14 to get to Orlando. At least you had a few meals though.

Although, this does beg a question to the Florida governor: Why hasn't he gotten rail service restored from New Orleans to the mouse-build human trap in Orlando?