A daily train connecting New Orleans and Baton Rouge is at least two to four years away, says John Spain, vice chair of the Southern Rail Commission.
The big picture: The tentative plan includes stops at Gonzales, LaPlace, two Baton Rouge locations, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, the Southern Rail Commission says.
This could be interesting. If you're a New Orleans Saints fan living in the Gulf South, a new way to get to games this season just opened up to you with this week's Amtrak Mardi Gras Service announcement. Twice-a-day passenger trains will travel between Louisiana and Alabama with four stops in Mississippi beginning Monday, Aug. 18, just in time for football season, but the day after the Saints' preseason home game with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The move revives service that ran for decades before Hurricane Katrina.
South Mississippi (WXXV)- Amtrak is ready to roll.
After millions of dollars being invested and several delays, tickets are now available for the twice-daily Amtrak Mardi Gras Service starting August 18th. That runs between Mobile and New Orleans with 4 stops on the Mississippi Coast.
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For the first time in almost 20 years, Gulf Coast residents will be able to take a train back and forth from New Orleans and Mobile, with stops in between.
We are glad to see the service back on track. Increasing connectivity along the Gulf Coast, which already has close cultural, economic and environmental ties, is a good thing.
Amtrak’s new Gulf Coast Mardi Gras Service has sparked strong interest, and early ticket sales confirm how eager travelers are to ride the train. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.
A brass band blared in New Orleans' Union Passenger Terminal downtown Tuesday as nearly two dozen people gathered to celebrate the return of Amtrak's Gulf Coast route on Aug. 18.
The route, called Amtrak Mardi Gras Service, will transport passengers between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, with stops in the Mississippi coastal cities of Bay St. Louis, Gulfport Biloxi and Pascagoula. It is the first passenger train line to run daily between New Orleans and Mobile since 1996, when the last service, Gulf Coast Limited, shut down.
Tickets are now on sale for a train service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, that has been revived 20 years after it was halted by Hurricane Katrina.
The new, twice-daily Amtrak Mardi Gras Service begins on August 18, and will take three hours and 43 minutes to travel the 145-mile Gulf Coast route.
Amtrak announced Tuesday that service for its new Gulf Coast route between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, starts Aug. 18.
Amtrak Mardi Gras Service will begin on Aug. 18, with fares starting at $15 for a one-way trip to New Orleans, officials closely aligned with the long-planned project announced Tuesday.
“One word we can use to describe how we feel today, and that’s ‘finally,’” said Amtrak Vice President Nicole Bucich, in Mobile for a news conference Tuesday announcing the train’s start date, schedule and fares.
Since Amtrak’s beginning in 1971, its routes have evolved—and unfortunately, in many cases, devolved. In its early days, Amtrak took over several regional passenger services, inheriting a sprawling rail network. Over the years, routes have been canceled, rerouted, shortened, or stripped of stops. Once covering far more of the U.S. map, Amtrak is now focused largely on coastal corridors and a few key cross-country lines.