Not sure, but doesn’t CSX service Florida? Wouldn’t their present problems of not being able to move trains have interfered with any additional trains that passenger operations would inflict?
Still, I bet all those “FEMA shackle cars” could have been pressed into service for this evacuation! ;-}
CSX ownership of the line to Miami ends at West Palm Beach. From WPB to Miami it is owned by the State of Florida and operated by Tri-Rail. The middle of the A line through Orlando is now owned by the State of Florida and is operated as Sun Rail. While CSX retains operating privledges on these lines, they do not control their operation.
CSX preparations ahead of the storm would have involved securing crossing gates and other vulnerable signal equipment and as such the CSX portion of the lines would not be operable. What actions Tri-Rail and Sun Rail would take for their equipment’s protection is unknown to me.
Amtrak and CN can wrangle a train to haul 300 people a couple hundred miles to not see the sun, but Amtrak, (CSX, etc.) have “issues” with at least maybe taking a trainload of people out of harm’s way who wouldn’t have an alternative means of evacuating a natural disaster.
They should all spend some time at the feet of HEB Supermarkets in Texas.
Don’t let operational realities that apply to CSX and the equipment and manpower realities that apply to Amtrak destroy your day dream.
You’re comparing one train for one special fun event with months of advance notice and planning, to a natural disaster with short notice and mass exodus. Apples and trombones.
If you stopped and thought about it for a moment, the better alternative would be evacuation by cruise ship. There’s a vessel made to carry 1,000’s of people at a time. They typically sail out of several Florida ports and could steam up to New York or wherever pretty easily.
Bigger question nobody has brought up- who pays for a train or ship to transport what is basically poor folks out of harm’s way?
If I were leaving due to mandatory evacuation and had the choice of driving and remaining unbound to any specific destination or arriving at a mandatory destination with massive numbers of other people, the choice of driving could not be more clear.
The best way to get the job done would be for everyone to have self-driving cars and evacuate in one big high speed platoon