Texas Eagle
The Texas Eagle is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the central and western United States. Trains run daily between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas. Historically, it operated as a section of the "Sunset Limited" on the three days that train operates, and ran independently for the remainder of the week. However, it was reduced to tri-weekly service from October 2020 to March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was again reduced to tri-weekly service in January 2022 due to a resurgence of the virus caused by the Omicron variant and will  remain so until March 2022. When operating as a section of the "Sunset Limited," the westbound "Texas Eagle" joins with the westbound "Sunset Limited" in San Antonio and continues to Los Angeles, California; the eastbound "Texas Eagle" splits in San Antonio for the journey to Chicago. When combined with the "Sunset Limited," the "Texas Eagle" runs for a total of , the longest route in the Amtrak system. Prior to 1988, the train was known as the Eagle. During fiscal year 2019, the "Texas Eagle" carried 321,694 passengers, a 4.2% decrease over FY2018. In FY2016, the train had a total revenue  of $22,323,171, an 8.5% decrease from FY2015. History. Amtrak's "Texas Eagle" is the direct successor of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Texas and Pacific Railway train of the same name, which was inaugurated in 1948 and ultimately discontinued in 1971. The route of Amtrak's "Texas Eagle" is longer (Chicago to San Antonio versus St. Louis to San Antonio), but much of today's route is historically a part of the original "Texas Eagle" route. St. Louis to Texarkana and Taylor, Texas, to San Antonio travels over former Missouri Pacific Railroad trackage, while the Texarkana to Fort Worth  segment traverses the former Texas and Pacific Railway. The T&P merged with MoPac in 1982; in turn MoPac was acquired by Union Pacific in 1986. The "Eagle" began on October 2, 1981, as a restructuring of the "Inter-American", which had operated a daily schedule from Chicago to Laredo, Texas, via San Antonio since 1973. From 1979 onward, it operated a section to Houston, Texas, which diverged at Temple, Texas. The new "Eagle" dropped the Houston section, while its southern terminus was cut back from Laredo to San Antonio. The new train carried Superliner equipment, replacing the Amfleet coaches on  the "Inter-American". In addition, the new train ran on a thrice-weekly schedule with a through car on the "Sunset Limited" to Los Angeles, although the latter was not announced until the April 1982 timetable. On November 15, 1988, Amtrak revived a Houston section, this time diverging at Dallas and running over the tracks of the Southern Pacific. It was the first time passenger traffic had served that route since 1958. Amtrak had intended to operate the "Lone Star" over this route back in the 1970s, but dropped the plan in the face of obstruction from the Southern Pacific . With the change, Amtrak revived the name "Texas Eagle" for the thrice-weekly Chicago-San Antonio/Houston train, while the off-day Chicago–St. Louis train remained the "Eagle". This section would be discontinued on September 10, 1995. On April 4, 2013 Amtrak opened a new station in Hope, Arkansas, the hometown of former U.S. president Bill Clinton. was added on November 17, 2016, serving Iron County, Missouri. As part of Amtrak's response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in greatly depressed ridership, service was reduced to tri-weekly throughout the corridor October 11, 2020. In March 2021, Amtrak announced  plans to return the "Texas Eagle" to its pre-pandemic schedule on May 24, 2021. However, the train began operating on a five days per week schedule in January 2022 due to a resurgence of the virus caused by the Omicron variant and will remain so until March 2022. It runs as a section of the "Sunset Limited" on the three days that train operates, splitting in San Antonio. For the rest of the week, it runs independently from Chicago to San Antonio. Proposed changes. In the August 2009 issue of "Trains", Brian Rosenwald, Amtrak's chief of product management , noted that the "Sunset Limited" might be replaced by an extension of the "Texas Eagle" to Los Angeles: "We projected the revenue and looked at the logistics, and with a little bit of rescheduling came to the conclusion that we can make this happen with the equipment we have, and the additional revenue the train earns will more than cover the increased operating costs". The move would restore a connection to the "Coast Starlight" in both directions, and move boarding in Maricopa and Tucson, Arizona, to civilized times. "We are putting a stake in the ground: Triweekly needs to disappear ," Rosenwald said. While the route of the "Sunset Limited" would not be entirely replaced, the performance improvements listed explain what will happen: These changes would, in turn, create a through-car change similar to that of the "Empire Builder". Such service would originate from Los Angeles and split at San Antonio, and vice versa from New Orleans. Route description. As of November 2013, train 21 departs Chicago 1:45 pm, running between Chicago and its first station stop in , parallel to the Illinois and Michigan Canal, along first the Canadian National's Freeport Subdivision and then Joliet Subdivision, which is also  used by Metra's Heritage Corridor and Amtrak's "Lincoln Service". From Joliet, the train travels along Union Pacific rails, often parallel to Interstate 55, making station stops in , Bloomington–Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, (a flag stop), and before crossing the Mississippi River to make its stop at St. Louis' Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center, scheduled for 7:21 pm. After St. Louis, the train skirts the Ozark Mountains, stopping in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, before crossing the state line into Arkansas. In Arkansas, the train stops in , the state capital of , and the stations at , , , and , on the Arkansas–Texas border. Continuing into  Texas, the train makes station stops in , , , and , which has connections to via Amtrak's "Heartland Flyer", and from there the train travels on BNSF trackage. The train continues on, making stops in , , (where the train resumes traveling on the Union Pacific), , the state capital of , and , with a scheduled arrival into at 9:55 pm (the next day) and a connection to the "Sunset Limited" on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, to Los Angeles at 2:45 am. The northbound "Texas Eagle" leaves San Antonio at 7 am (splitting from the eastbound "Sunset Limited" on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays) and arrives at  Chicago at 1:45 pm the next day. Rolling stock. The normally assigned consist on the "Texas Eagle" includes: Three times a week, one coach and one sleeping car from the Texas Eagle are connected to the "Sunset Limited" and travel between San Antonio and Los Angeles as Train #421/422. Additionally, to provide extra capacity, a third Superliner coach operates between Chicago and St. Louis as Train #321/322.