Sketchy information in a recent St. Petersburg Times:
Rail to New Orleans in limbo
Amtrak's Sunset Limited service between Orlando and New Orleans has been supend-ed since Hurricane Katrina. When is it going to resume?
Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, damaging the CSX railroad tracks and causing the suspension of Amtrak's Sunset Limited route to New Orleans from Orlando.
The tracks have been repaired, but Amtrak has reservations about resuming the route, citing dwindling ridership (81,000 in 2005, after 96,000 in 2004).
But politicians and community groups in at least three states are starting to apply pressure to have the route reinstated, according to a recent article on jacksonville.com, Web site of the Florida Times-Union.
Amtrak says a feasibility study will be submitted to Congress by July, and supporters are optimistic about their chances because of President Barack Obama's and Vice President Joe Biden's past support for Amtrak while they were in the Senate.
Guess we're waiting for that "feasibility study."
Ocala Mike