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 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.
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.
“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 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.”
“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.
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.
The Amtrak train passed through downtown Bay St. Louis Friday morning just as the Southern Rail Commission met to provide updates on the new Mardi Gras line and honor Kay Kell for her part in restoring Amtrak passenger service. The meeting drew Amtrak board members from as far as Idaho to deliver the news about the impressive start to Amtrak’s first expansion of this kind of train service in 20 years.
Amtrak's new Gulf Coast service is on track to double the company's passenger estimates, officials say.
Why it matters: It's good news for the train route trying to make a comeback after 20 years.
The big picture: More than 46,000 people have ridden the Mardi Gras service trains since Aug. 18, Amtrak officials confirmed last week.