Monroe City Council moves forward with possible funding for intercity passenger rail

Travelers in North Louisiana may be one small step closer to resuming passenger rail service in Monroe.

The Monroe City Council approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Friday Ellis to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement to seek grant funding from the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program for the development of an intercity passenger rail service at Tuesday's night meeting.

The development of an intercity passenger rail service connecting the I-20 corridor through Monroe, Ruston, Shreveport and Vicksburg, Mississippi, is being proposed.

Read More

Amtrak service may return to Mobile in 2023

It could be all aboard for the return of passenger train service to the Gulf Coast in the upcoming year. The last train carrying passengers out of Mobile left the station in 2005. The last regular daily runs between Mobile and New Orleans were about a half century ago. But now, after years of work and lengthy negotiations, supporters say they’re confident that 2023 is the year that trains roll along the Gulf Coast again.

“Basically, what I can say, we have an agreement that will result in a three-hour and 23-minute run time between Mobile and New Orleans,” said Knox Ross. He’s chairman of the Southern Rail Commission. That’s a three-state agency working to restore passenger train service in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Read More

Details emerge over Gulf Coast Amtrak route from Mobile to New Orleans, as former enemies become funding partners

As Amtrak plans for a 2023 start date, the freight companies and Alabama port that once said passenger rail’s return to the Mississippi Gulf Coast could be detrimental to business are now pledging millions of dollars in improvements to the tracks between Mobile and New Orleans. 

The freight companies and Alabama Port Authority have promised to pay a collective $15 million to improve the passenger train’s route in efforts to decrease the total time it will take Amtrak to go between New Orleans and Mobile, according to details obtained by a Mississippi Today records request.

Read More

Amtrak’s Gulf Coast return will be in 2023, but few other details disclosed

Amtrak’s return to the Gulf Coast will come in 2023, but few details are being disclosed about last month’s settlement in a case before a federal agency that could have national implications over how passenger rail is conducted along freight lines.

An Amtrak official disclosed Friday that a pending settlement ending a legal proceeding before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board will enable a 2023 start of Amtrak service connecting New Orleans to Mobile with four stops along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Read More

Amtrak plans service to Mobile starting next year

Amtrak plans to start its long-awaited service between here and New Orleans next year, but key details – including cost – are still to be worked out.

Last month, Amtrak reached a settlement with the Port of Mobile, Norfolk Southern and CSX. The terms of that settlement are confidential until the Surface Transportation Board approves it. But if it does, as expected, it will pave the way for passenger rail service in Mobile for the first time since 2005.

“This is a big deal,” Southern Rail Commission Chairman Knox Ross said during a meeting of the organization in Mobile on Friday. “We’ve been working to get this service, really since 2005.”

Read More

New Orleans to Baton Rouge passenger train moves forward: State seeks federal funds to fix tracks

Plans to unveil a long-awaited passenger rail line connecting New Orleans and Baton Rouge are moving forward. But first, the state of Louisiana is seeking federal funding to fix up the tracks between its two largest cities.

State transportation officials are currently wrapping up engineering and financing studies of the corridor, which should be completed in February, said Darrell Saizan, a senior consultant with Saizan and Associates, during a New Orleans City Council Transportation committee meeting Tuesday.

Read More

Amtrak passenger service between Mobile and New Orleans returning

Amtrak passenger service between Mobile and New Orleans is returning.

According to Mobile’s WKRG, a  settlement was reached on Nov. 21 between Amtrak and parties opposing the government’s plan to restore service, including the Alabama Port Authority, CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads.

The proposed route, which had been halted in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, was opposed by freight company CSX Transportation. The Bama Buzz reported about the feud between Amtrak and company back in April 2022, when it resorted to using social media to make its case for the new route.

Read More