Prospects for a passenger rail line connecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans got a boost this week after the Biden administration proposed $80 billion for passenger rail in its massive infrastructure program and Amtrak released plans to add 30 new routes that include the long-discussed service.

“It was a really, really good day,” said John Spain, executive vice president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and a longtime advocate for passenger rail service. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but this is the closest we’ve ever been.”