The Sunset Limited at Alpine

Where the Sunset Limited actually is, and when it will really reach Alpine — the nearest station to Marfa, twenty-six miles east. Read live from Amtrak's own tracking.

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The Sunset Limited is the only passenger train in the Big Bend, and it does not stop in Marfa — the nearest station is Alpine, twenty-six miles east on US-90. It calls three times a week in each direction, and on a forty-eight-hour run over freight-owned track a timetable time is a starting point. This page reads Amtrak's own tracking data and says where the train actually is, so you can decide whether to set off.

Right now

Eastbound, for San Antonio and New Orleans: due Mon 8:45 PM.

Updated now.

Westbound, for El Paso and Los Angeles

Got in at Sun 10:34 AM.

Along the Sunset Limited line

Running New Orleans to Los Angeles Union.

Stop	Timetable	Expected	Status
Alpine (here)	10:31 AM	10:34 AM	Called
El Paso	2:25 PM	2:14 PM	Called
Deming	4:38 PM	4:50 PM	Called
Lordsburg	5:33 PM	5:46 PM	Called
Benson	7:38 PM	7:41 PM	Called
Tucson	9:00 PM	8:41 PM	Called

Eastbound, for San Antonio and New Orleans

Due Mon 8:45 PM.

Where the train is

Last past Palm Springs.

Position last reported 5 minutes ago. Moving at about 51 mph.

Along the Sunset Limited line

Running Los Angeles Union to New Orleans.

Stop	Timetable	Expected	Status
Tucson	9:38 AM	11:08 AM	To come
Benson	10:53 AM	12:16 PM	To come
Lordsburg	12:53 PM	2:16 PM	To come
Deming	1:48 PM	3:11 PM	To come
El Paso	4:00 PM	4:56 PM	To come
Alpine (here)	8:45 PM	8:45 PM	To come

How much to trust the times

Amtrak tracks its trains by cellular signal, and a long stretch out of coverage can leave the estimate stuck for a while. It can jump by an hour or more once the train is back in signal.
A train can also make up time on some stretches of track as easily as it loses time on others, so the estimate can improve as well as slip.
Amtrak’s own advice is to be at the station well before the estimated time. For a person meeting the train, that is the number that matters.

Why Alpine, and not Marfa

Marfa exists because of this railroad — it began in the early 1880s as a water stop on the line that still runs through the middle of town. The passenger train no longer stops here. Between San Antonio and El Paso it calls at Del Rio, Sanderson and Alpine only, so the station for Marfa is the one in the Holland Hotel building at 102 West Holland Avenue, Alpine, about twenty-six miles east on US-90 — the same run as the ER and the pharmacy.

Three times a week, and no later train

The Sunset Limited runs New Orleans to Los Angeles in about forty-eight hours, three days a week each way. Almost all of that is on track owned by Union Pacific, where freight comes first, so the train loses time steadily rather than all at once and several hours down is an ordinary day. There is no next one that evening: if you miss it, the next train in that direction is two or three days away, which is why the position below is worth more than the timetable.

What the times mean for a 26-mile drive

Getting to Alpine takes about half an hour each way. Waiting at the station costs nothing but time; missing the train costs days. Amtrak's own advice is to be there well before the estimated time, and an estimate can move by an hour when the train comes back into cellular coverage — so treat the timetable time as the earliest it could appear, and use the estimate to decide how long you will be waiting, not whether to go.

Checking with Amtrak directly

This page shows the same tracking data Amtrak publishes and adds nothing to it. For a booking, a refund, or the reason behind a cancellation, Amtrak is the only place that can answer.

Amtrak — Alpine, TX station (ALP)
102 West Holland Avenue, Alpine, TX 79830. Station building with a waiting room.
Amtrak — the Sunset Limited
The route page: timetable, fares and current service notices.
Amtrak reservations and customer service: 1-800-872-7245
1-800-USA-RAIL. Deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-disabled callers dial 711 and ask to be relayed to the same number.
Amtraker — Alpine (ALP)
The public readable copy of Amtrak's tracking data that this page reads, with a live map.

Get an email about this train

A notice from Amtrak about a cancellation or a diversion, or a heads-up once a run is running many hours late — not every small delay.