Union Station
The main railroad serving the old Union Station in New Orleans was Illinois Central, with its main line extending north to Chicago. At Orleans Jct., 11 miles northwest, IC's Baton Rouge District diverged west. Southern Pacific trains west towards Houston, El Paso and Los Angeles, diverged south from the IC line at East Bridge Jct., 6 miles west. From there, New Orleans Public Belt trackage was used to cross the Huey Long Bridge over the Mississippi River. At West Bridge Jct., 12 miles southwest, the SP trackage began. Also using Union Station was Missouri Pacific, operating west to Houston and using trackage rights via IC to Baton Rouge, 90 miles west. Trackage from the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal joined the old IC route at Southport Jct., 4 miles west. Amtrak continues to operate over the IC and SP lines.
Rampart Street Station
Rampart Street Station in New Orleans was used by Kansas City Southern, operating north to Shreveport and Kansas City. Trackage from Broad Street, 1 mile west, to KCS Jct., 3 miles west, later became New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal trackage.
Terminal Station
Terminal Station in New Orleans was mainly used by Southern Railway, operating northeast to Atlanta and Washington. In addition, Gulf Mobile & Ohio had trackage rights via SR to Slidell, 35 miles northeast, where its own line towards St. Louis diverged north. Trackage from the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal joined the old SR route at East City Jct., 3 miles northwest. Amtrak continues to operate over the SR route.
Canal Street Station
Canal Street Station in New Orleans was used by Louisville & Nashville, operating northeast to Mobile, Nashville, Louisville and Cincinnati. Trackage from the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal joined the old L&N route at Elysian Fields, 3 miles northeast. That new route also involved trackage rights via Southern Railway from East City Jct. to Elysian Fields. Amtrak has operated over the L&N route on and off, with service suspended in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Annunciation Station
Annunciation Station in New Orleans was used by Texas & Pacific, operating northwest into Texas. These trains required a railroad ferry across the Mississippi River. After the opening of the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, trains began using the same route over the Huey Long Bridge as used by Southern Pacific trains. Trains then joined the old T&P route at West Bridge Jct., 12 miles southwest.
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
This new station required NOUPT to construct new trackage between the station and Broad Street, 1 mile west. Between Broad Street and KCS Jct., 3 miles west of the station, NOUPT acquired trackage from Kansas City Southern, which had previously been used to access KCS's Rampart Street Station. NOUPT constructed a new connection from KCS Jct. to Southport Jct., connecting with the Illinois Central line which had previously operated out of the old Union Station. And NOUPT acquired an industrial route from Carrollton Jct., 2 miles west of the station, to East City Jct., 3 miles northwest. At East City Jct., the NOUPT trackage would connect with the Southern Railway line which had previously operated out of the old Terminal Station. Louisville & Nashville was given trackage rights over this SR line as far as Elysian Fields, where the SR line had crossed the L&N line from its Canal Street Station. Finally, a completely new route was adopted for Texas & Pacific trains, which had used Annunciation Station and a ferry connection. The new T&P route would duplicate the route used by SP over the Huey Long Bridge to West Bridge Jct. New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal was controlled by Clara Street Tower, which also remotely controlled Carrollton Jct. and KCS Jct.