[Amalie]

I hate to say this, but no railroad president in his right mind would risk the legal ramifications of transporting humans in freight equipment - it is Amtrak, not they, who carry most of the liability insurance. The PR would be nightmare("Then, just like the Nazis, we were crammed in a boxcar for three days..."), lawsuits would be likely since the ambulance chasers see the railroads as a sugar daddy, and that is the truth. IT IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE FOR BUSINESS TO *RISK* THE RESULTS OF COMPASSIONATE RESPONSE, even in a disaster of this magnitude.

[Spktyr]

Which will be brought up in Congress later, if people are smart, and will cause a massive overhaul of liability law.

[Spktyr]

Also - the state government could have commandeered the trains, which would have relieved the owners of liability.

[Not A Snowbird]

no railroad president in his right mind would risk the legal ramifications of transporting humans in freight equipment

The government needs to step in and grant them immunity from any kind of lawsuit.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

But there are amtrak lines that go through NO. There was the Crescent, the Sunset and the City of New Orleans lines: North, East and West (unless they were downsided away). It might have been a good idea to think of an emergency evacuation plan that included trains. How many other cities have that many amtrack routes any more?