Improvements are coming to Birmingham’s Amtrak station after the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority received federal grant money this week.
The Southern Rail Commission awarded Birmingham $250,000 that can be used to enhance accessibility, improve ridership, and expand economic opportunities associated with station redevelopment.
“This is an effort to try to provide funding to assist us to clean up the area prior to the World Games,” said Frank T. Martin, CEO of the BJCTA.
The Southern Rail Commission will award grant funding from the Federal Railroad Administration to the cities of Gulfport, Miss. Bay St. Louis, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Birmingham, Ala. to complete construction and enhance accessibility for each of their local passenger train stations.
SRC will award a total of $953,338 in four grants: Gulfport will receive $246,500, Bay St. Louis will receive $270,000, Pascagoula will receive $186,838 and Birmingham will receive $250,000. Each of these grants required a local match of the same amount.
Sixteen years ago, Hurricane Katrina’s strong winds and powerful storm surge damaged rail stations and infrastructure along the Gulf Coast rail line. As a result, passenger rail has not operated along it ever since.
Amtrak is targeting a New Year’s Day return to the Gulf Coast line, and its case before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) is expected to conclude soon. Preparations are underway to resume passenger service between Mobile and New Orleans as the Biden Administration prioritizes boosting Amtrak services nationwide.
The Surface Transportation Board announced a decision Monday that could bring passenger rail transportation back to the Gulf Coast. A Birmingham Business Journal report said the board allowed Amtrak's petition to move forward for CSX and Norfolk Southern to provide access on the line between New Orleans and Mobile.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is praising the bipartisan group of U.S. senators that worked with President Biden's administration to reach a comprehensive infrastructure package, the text of which was unveiled yesterday.
Amtrak is still aiming to begin passenger train service between South Mississippi and New Orleans on or about Jan. 1.
With less than six months until the service is targeted to start, Amtrak this week asked the Surface Transportation Board to expedite its application so preparations can begin. The motion said restoration of service between New Orleans and Mobile will alleviate worsening congestion on the highways and offer a more energy-efficient way of travel.
President Joe Biden today will issue an executive order (EO) on economic competition in which he'll call on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to require freight railroads to provide rights of way to passenger rail and to strengthen their obligations to treat other freight companies fairly.
The order includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies “to promptly tackle some of the most pressing competition problems” across the U.S. economy, according to a White House “Fact Sheet” on the EO.
Among the initiatives: Biden will encourage the STB to require railroad track owners to provide rights of way to passenger rail, an initiative that likely would impact Amtrak’s effort to gain easier access to freight railroads’ track on which Amtrak trains operate.
Amtrak has gained some access to the freight-owned tracks it needs to begin a Gulf Coast passenger route. But whether Amtrak’s desired Jan. 1 start date will go on as planned is still unclear.
Despite an ongoing battle through a federal transportation board, freight operators have given Amtrak limited access to their properties on the Gulf Coast. The agreement, outlined in letters given to the board, allows Amtrak workers on freight-owned property to survey and prepare for the possible Gulf Coast route.
Amtrak is still aiming to begin passenger train service between South Mississippi and New Orleans on or about Jan. 1.
With less than six months until the service is targeted to start, Amtrak this week asked the Surface Transportation Board to expedite its application so preparations can begin.
The motion said restoration of service between New Orleans and Mobile will alleviate worsening congestion on the highways and offer a more energy-efficient way of travel.
Amtrak yesterday unveiled a $7.3 billion plan to purchase new passenger-rail cars and locomotives, upgrading a fleet that’s nearly 50 years old.
Siemens Mobility Inc. will manufacture up to 83 multipowered modern trains that will be leveraged for state and northeast services, with further options for up to 130 additional trains to support growth plans, Amtrak officials said in a press release.
"These new trains will reshape the future of rail travel by replacing our aging 40-to-50-year old fleet with state-of-the-art, American-made equipment," said Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Bill Flynn. "This investment is essential to preserving and growing our Northeast Regional and state-supported services and will allow our customers to travel comfortably and safely, while deeply reducing criteria pollutants."