City of New Orleans (train)

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City of New Orleans
standard gauge
Operating speed48 mph (77 km/h) (avg.)
79 mph (127 km/h) (top)
Track owner(s)CN
Route map
Map
Legend
Empire Builder and
Hiawatha Service
0 mi
0 km
 Chicago
Metra Chicago Transit Authority
Switchback at
21st Street interlocking
 Central Station
Closed 1972
25 mi
40 km
 Homewood
Metra Pace (transit)
57 mi
92 km
 Kankakee
River Valley Metro Mass Transit District
 Gilman
1986–1996
129 mi
208 km
 Champaign–Urbana
Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District
174 mi
280 km
 Mattoon
201 mi
323 km
 Effingham
River Cities
to Kansas City
1984–1993
254 mi
409 km
 Centralia
310 mi
499 km
 Carbondale
Bus interchange
 Cairo
Closed 1987
IL
KY
407 mi
655 km
 Fulton
KY
TN
442 mi
711 km
 Newbern
520 mi
837 km
 Memphis
MATA Trolley
TN
MS
              
Route prior to 1995
              
Route prior to 1995
Batesville
Grenada
Winona
Durant
Canton
589 mi
948 km
 Marks
644 mi
1036 km
 Greenwood
697 mi
1122 km
 Yazoo City
741 mi
1193 km
 Jackson
Jackson Transit System
777 mi
1250 km
 Hazlehurst
797 mi
1283 km
 Brookhaven
821 mi
1321 km
 McComb
MS
LA
873 mi
1405 km
 Hammond
Sunset Limited to Los Angeles
Crescent to New York
926 mi
1490 km
 New Orleans
Streetcars in New Orleans

= flag stop

This diagram:

The City of New Orleans is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak in the Central United States between Chicago and New Orleans. The overnight train takes about 191⁄2 hours to complete its 934-mile (1,503 km) route, making major stops in Champaign–Urbana, Carbondale, Memphis, and Jackson.

The City of New Orleans was first initiated by the Illinois Central Railroad in 1947 as the daytime complement to the Panama Limited, a night train dating back to 1911. In 1971 both routes were conveyed to Amtrak, which retained only the Panama Limited. In 1981 Amtrak revived the City of New Orleans name for the train, still on an overnight schedule, on the heels of the popular song of the same name by Steve Goodman.

Additional corridor service on the northern segment of the route is provided by the Illini and Saluki between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois.

During

$18,706,915, a 3.7% decrease from FY2015.[4]

History

Illinois Central

See also: Panama Limited
IC #4017, an EMD E7, leads the City of New Orleans at Kankakee, Illinois in August 1964.

The

through cars at Carbondale, Illinois and Louisville—New Orleans cars at Fulton, Kentucky. The average speed of the new train was nearly 60 mph (97 km/h) with a maximum of 100 mph (160 km/h); a result of the largely flat route of the Illinois Central along the Mississippi River.[7][8] By October 25, 1959, the timetable had lengthened to 16 hours 30 minutes.[9] The train remained popular throughout the 1960s and gained ex-Missouri Pacific Railroad dome coaches in 1967.[7]

Amtrak

When Amtrak assumed operation of U.S. passenger train service on May 1, 1971, it dropped the Panama Limited in favor of retaining the City of New Orleans on the traditional daytime schedule. At that time the City of New Orleans was one of four trains that called at Chicago's

Union Station by March 1972.[10] Inauspiciously, the City of New Orleans was involved in Amtrak's first fatal derailment on June 10, near Salem, Illinois. Because this train made no connections with other trains at either New Orleans or Chicago, Amtrak moved the train to an overnight schedule on November 14, 1971, and renamed it the Panama Limited.[11]

In February 1981, Amtrak restored the City of New Orleans name while retaining the overnight schedule; Amtrak hoped to capitalize on the popularity of the

Gilman, Illinois, on October 26, 1986. Gilman had last seen service in 1971; the Illini stopped there as well. Service to Cairo, Illinois, south of Carbondale, ended on October 25, 1987.[14]

Amtrak operated the City of New Orleans reliably through the 1980s and into the 1990s; in 1992, the City of New Orleans had the highest on-time performance rate of all Amtrak services at 87%.[15] Nevertheless, on-board service had declined; Trains magazine editor J. David Ingles called the train "Amtrak's least-glamorous long-distance train".[16] On March 3, 1994, new Superliner cars replaced the single-level cars. Real dining service[vague] returned; by the early 1990s an Amfleet dinette had doubled with the lounge car.[17]

In 1995 the City of New Orleans shifted from the Grenada District (blue) to the Yazoo District (red) in northern Mississippi.

On September 10, 1995, the train was rerouted between Memphis and Jackson due to the Illinois Central's desire to abandon the original route (the Grenada District) in favor of the newer and flatter Yazoo District. Five towns in the Mississippi Delta lost service–Batesville, Grenada; Winona; Durant and Canton.[18]

On March 15, 1999, the City of New Orleans collided with a flatbed semi-trailer near

Bourbonnais train accident. The fourth car, where the fatalities occurred, was engulfed in flames following the collision at the crossing.[19]

Because of damage in Mississippi and Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak was forced in late August 2005 to truncate the City of New Orleans at Memphis, Tennessee. Service was first restored as far south as Hammond, Louisiana, and on October 8, 2005, Amtrak resumed service to New Orleans.[20] In December 2005 Arlo Guthrie, who helped popularize the song "City of New Orleans", led a fundraiser aboard the City of New Orleans and at several stops along the train's route to help in the hurricane recovery efforts.[21][22]

The train began stopping at Marks, Mississippi, on April 4, 2018, following the completion of a new station.[23]

Starting October 1, 2019, traditional dining car services were removed and replaced with a reduced menu of 'Flexible Dining' options.[24]

From October 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021, daily service was reduced to three trains per week due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25][26]

Proposed expansion

In 2016, Amtrak released a study on bringing passenger rail to the Gulf Coast that recommended extending the City of New Orleans to Orlando, Florida along trackage once traversed by the Sunset Limited but unserved since Hurricane Katrina.[27]

The

Chicago Line in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood in Chicago. This will eliminate a time-consuming switchback on the St. Charles Air Line into Chicago Union Station.[28]

In 2023, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport began seeking federal funding for a people mover linking the airport to a new station serving the planned New Orleans–Baton Rouge passenger rail service, as well as the City of New Orleans.[29]

Route details

City of New Orleans route map

The City of New Orleans uses rail lines that were once part of the Illinois Central Railroad system, and are now owned by the Canadian National Railway (CN):

As of 2023, the southbound City of New Orleans leaves Chicago at 8 p.m.,[30] traveling overnight through southern Illinois and Kentucky for arrival at breakfast time the following morning in Memphis, lunchtime in Jackson, and mid-afternoon in New Orleans. Northbound trains leave New Orleans in early afternoon, arriving in Jackson in early evening, then traveling through Tennessee and southern Illinois overnight before arriving in Champaign-Urbana at breakfast time the following morning and Chicago just after rush hour.

The train is the sole Amtrak service in Tennessee, making stops at Memphis and Newbern.

In fiscal year 2004, the City of New Orleans achieved an on-time performance rating of 67.6%.[31] The train's average on-time performance rating for fiscal year 2006 was 86.8%, reaching as high as 93.5% for the month of May 2006.[32]

Stations

Amtrak City of New Orleans stations
State/Province City Station
Illinois
Chicago
 Chicago Union
Homewood Homewood
Kankakee Kankakee
Champaign Champaign–Urbana
Mattoon Mattoon
Effingham Effingham
Centralia Centralia
Carbondale Carbondale
Kentucky Fulton Fulton
Tennessee Newbern Newbern–Dyersburg
Memphis Memphis Central
Mississippi Marks Marks
Greenwood Greenwood
Yazoo City Yazoo City
Jackson Jackson
Hazlehurst Hazlehurst
Brookhaven Brookhaven
McComb McComb
Louisiana Hammond Hammond
New Orleans
 New Orleans

Equipment

The City of New Orleans at the Memphis Central Station in November 2022

A typical City of New Orleans consist includes:

  • Siemens ALC-42 locomotive[33]
  • Viewliner Baggage car
  • Superliner Transition-sleeper
  • Superliner Sleeper
  • Superliner Diner-Lounge
  • Superliner Sightseer Lounge
  • Superliner Coach
  • Superliner Coach
  • Superliner Coach-baggage

Folk song

Main article: City of New Orleans (song)

"City of New Orleans" is a folk song written and first performed by Steve Goodman in 1970 and subsequently recorded by Arlo Guthrie in 1972. Many other artists, notably Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, John Denver (with slightly different lyrics), Judy Collins, and Jerry Reed have also recorded it. The song lyrics trace the trail of the train route in mourning the "...disappearin' railroad blues...."

Tom Rush performed and recorded a folk song (based on some Bukka White songs) about the Panama Limited, the overnight train along the same route as the City of New Orleans.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Amtrak Fiscal Year 2023 Ridership" (PDF). Amtrak. November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "Amtrak Timetable Results". www.amtrak.com. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "Amtrak FY23 Ridership" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Amtrak FY16 Ridership & Revenue" (PDF).
  5. ^ Murray 2006, p. 91
  6. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 92
  7. ^ a b Schafer & Welsh 2002, p. 117
  8. ^ Murray 2006, p. 111
  9. ^ Downey 2007, p. 35
  10. ^ Kelly, John. "Amtrak's beginnings". Classic Trains. Kalmbach Publishing. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  11. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 94
  12. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 96
  13. ^ Sanders 2006, pp. 96–97
  14. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 105
  15. ^ "NARP: December 1992 Hotlines". National Association of Rail Passengers. December 4, 1992. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  16. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 97
  17. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 98
  18. ^ Sanders 2006, pp. 99, 105
  19. ^ National Transportation Safety Board (February 5, 2002). "Railroad accident report: Collision of National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train 59 with a loaded truck-semitrailer combination at a highway/rail grade crossing in Bourbonnais, Illinois, March 15, 1999" (PDF). Retrieved January 27, 2005.
  20. ^ "City of New Orleans rolls into Big Easy". NBC News. October 8, 2005. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2006.
  21. ^ Marcus, Richard (September 21, 2005). "Arlo Guthrie's City of New Orleans Benefit". Archived from the original on April 10, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  22. ^ Lydersen, Kari (December 17, 2005). "Storied Train Used As Vehicle For Giving". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  23. ^ "Mississippi Delta town welcomes new Amtrak train stop". WREG-TV. May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  24. ^ "AMTRAK INTRODUCES ENHANCED MENU AND FLEXIBLE DINING EXPERIENCE ON FIVE ROUTES" (Press release). Amtrak. September 2019.
  25. ^ Lazo, Luz (June 16, 2020). "Amtrak is ending daily service to hundreds of stations. Blame the coronavirus pandemic, the railroad says". Washington Post. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  26. ^ Jorgenson, Dawn (May 27, 2021). "Amtrak is resuming a dozen long-distance trips, all across the country". KSAT. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  27. ^ Group, Sinclair Broadcast (March 26, 2016). "Amtrak passenger service on track for rail service across Gulf Coast". WEAR. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  28. ^ "Grand Crossing Flyover". CREATE Program. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  29. ^ Johnston, Bob (September 12, 2023). "Gulf Coast service awaits Mobile station track, PTC gap closure". Trains. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  30. ^ "Amtrak Tickets, Schedules and Train Routes". www.amtrak.com. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  31. ^ "Amtrak On-Time Performance and Losses for FY 2004". United States Department of Transportation, Office of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  32. ^ Amtrak (June 7, 2007). "Monthly Performance Report for May 2007" (PDF). p. E-7. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  33. ^ Ruppert, Daniel P. (February 3, 2023). "Update on Acquisitions And Capital Programs" (PDF). PRIIA Section 305 Next Generation Corridor Equipment Pool Committee (NGEC) 13th Annual Meeting. Next Generation Corridor Equipment Pool Committee.

Notes

  1. ^ Amtrak's Fiscal Year (FY) runs from October 1 of the prior year to September 30 of the named year.

External links

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