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4/2/2026
Yesterday, Union Pacific Railroad and Amtrak announced a new agreement that enables Amtrak to operate on a 5-mile segment of UP-owned track starting near Avondale, Louisiana, as of April 1.
The pact involves a reroute of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited onto UP track. The Sunset Limited is a long-distance service running three times weekly between New Orleans and Los Angeles.
Sunset Limited trains travel over UP track for most of the route. Several years ago, Amtrak was experiencing poor on-time performance on the route and filed a complaint with the Surface Transportation Board seeking help with resolving the issue with UP.
“We are grateful to have reached this agreement with Union Pacific. Both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have shown a strong commitment to quality Amtrak passenger-rail service,” said Jennifer Mitchell, Amtrak’s executive vice president of strategy, planning and accessibility, in a press release.
UP has provided Amtrak access to its network since the national intercity passenger service began in 1971. Every year, Amtrak trains travel about 4.6 million train miles across the Class I’s network, UP officials said.
“Amtrak is a key industry partner, and this agreement underscores our ongoing commitment to working with them to enhance both passenger- and freight-rail services,” said UP Executive VP of Operations Eric Gehringer.