We boarded the train at dawn. The stainless-steel cars glowed beneath the streetlamps of downtown Mobile, Alabama, ready for the engine’s pull. Inside our coach car, we hoisted our bags into the overhead storage and settled into two navy-blue leather seats. I peered out our window, where a line of passengers still waited to show the conductor their tickets. A young couple in shorts and sandals. A group of women wearing matching pink family-reunion T-shirts. A father and his elementary-age son, who wore glasses and a flat-billed hat and held his dad’s hand.
Amtrak Mardi Gras train becomes a Gulf Coast hit with rider numbers higher than projected
Even at the annual Rex and Comus balls in New Orleans, the talk drifts toward Amtrak trains and the roots of Mardi Gras.
An exchange involving historians Errol LaBorde and Arthur Hardy during the ball’s livestream discussed the revived Gulf Coast route, Mobile’s significance as the “Birthplace of Mardi Gras,” and the connections of trains to Carnival.
Instead of New Orleans, I Took Amtrak's New Mardi Gras Train to Alabama
I’m chowing down on a mini King Cake, my breakfast. It’s a braided cinnamon Danish sprinkled with purple, green, and gold edible, with a cream cheese filling and a little plastic baby perched astride. The baby represents the infant Jesus and is said to bring luck (and an obligation to host the next fête, if he shows up in your slice.)
Travel: Amtrak Mardi Gras service brings rail revival to US Gulf Coast
On more than one occasion during my time on America’s Gulf Coast, I found myself woken by the sound of a train horn in the night, not sure if it was real or in my head.
The seemingly constant honk of the Amtrak is a reminder in these parts that rail is back in business, a dream made a reality for locals after a twenty-year absence due to the nightmare devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Amtrak adds extra car to Mardi Gras Service starting Friday
Amtrak Mardi Gras Service will operate with an additional coach car starting Friday and running continuously through the Carnival season.
The bonus car will be added to trains 23 and 26 of the four itineraries between Mobile and New Orleans, according to a news release from Visit Mobile on Thursday. Train 23 departs Mobile to New Orleans daily at 6:30 a.m., and Train 26 departs New Orleans for Mobile daily at 5:31 p.m.
Amtrak Mardi Gras Service will include an additional car for Mardi Gras season
In anticipation of what promises to be an exciting adventure for new or experienced rail passengers, Amtrak has informed the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) and Visit Mobile that an additional coach car will be added ahead and for the duration of the Mardi Gras season. The additional capacity will begin on Friday, January 9 and extend to Monday, February 23, 2026.
Exploring Bayous and Beaches on the Reborn Gulf Train
“I am never sure of time or place on a Railroad,” Charles Dickens wrote in 1856 as rail travel was beginning to change our concept of distance. I recognized the feeling when I recently rode Amtrak’s new twice-daily Mardi Gras Service running along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.
Amtrak touts strong demand for Coast passenger rail service
Amtrak says more than 46,000 customers have ridden its Mardi Gras Service trains on the twice-daily round trips across Coastal Mississippi between New Orleans and Mobile since its official start on August 18.
”We are well on-track to double the original estimate,” said Amtrak Board Chairman Anthony “Tony” Coscia in a statement. “Demand is very high across our network.”
Exploring Bayous and Beaches on the Reborn Gulf Train
“I am never sure of time or place on a Railroad,” Charles Dickens wrote in 1856 as rail travel was beginning to change our concept of distance. I recognized the feeling when I recently rode Amtrak’s new twice-daily Mardi Gras Service running along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.
How a trip on the new Amtrak train offers a new perspective of America’s Deep South
Dozens of birds fly over the still bayou as the train rushes past, leaving nothing but blue skies over the marshland. In no time this serene scene is replaced by bustling cityscape as I arrive in New Orleans.
It’s the first time since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region 20 years ago that a passenger train is running along the Gulf Coast from Mobile, Alabama, to New Orleans in Louisiana.