Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) will jointly apply for federal funds to study a proposed extension of a passenger-rail route across Mississippi and Louisiana to Texas along Interstate 20.
Extending Amtrak’s Crescent train service has been under consideration for more than 20 years. But the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021 created the opportunity to study expanded long-distance service, Amtrak and SRC officials said in a press release.
The Southern Rail Commission welcomed elected officials and stakeholders from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to New Orleans for the commission’s quarterly stakeholder meeting. The SRC, along with Amtrak, announced key project milestones for passenger rail projects within the I-20 Corridor and along the Gulf Coast.
Amtrak will partner with the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) to apply for federal funds to study a new service between New York City, Atlanta,
and Dallas/Fort Worth by extending a section of the popular Amtrak Crescent train from Meridian, Miss., across Mississippi and Louisiana to Texas along Interstate 20.
Amtrak and its partners have been exploring this idea for more than 20 years, but last year’s Congressional passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act now creates new opportunities to study possible expanded long-distance Amtrak service. Amtrak Network Development Vice President Nicole Bucich announced the decision to partner with the SRC to apply for the planning funds at the Commission’s quarterly meeting in New Orleans, supporting “More Amtrak Trains for More People.”
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 the Interview with Southern Rail Commission Chairman Knox Ross
Amtrak train crews will begin required familiarization trips this week, learning the physical characteristics of the future route by operating Amtrak locomotives and railcars between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans.
Imagine riding the rails from New Orleans to Mobile, and on to Disney World, or even as far as the Miami beaches.
It could happen. Amtrak is poised to return service from Louisiana to Mobile this year, and an extension to Florida is hopefully on the horizon.
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.
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.
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.