March 14 2025 - TRA Newswire -
You'll be able to buy tickets soon for the start of passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama. During the quarterly meeting of the Southern Rail Commission (SRC), Arun Rao from Amtrak said a firm start-up date will be announced in the weeks ahead.
Rao said that “We are still on track for a summer 2025 start. To achieve this all the funding agreements with the states must be signed”. Final operating paperwork with Louisiana and Mississippi have to be signed off before the official start date can be announced.
Chairman of the Southern Rail Commission, Knox Ross, will be speaking at the 21st Annual Southwestern Rail Conference in Hurst, Texas April 8th and hopefully will have some start-up news to share.
Once the service starts, Amtrak will operate two round trips between Mobile and New Orleans. Mississippi stops are in Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis.
Passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast ended in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina heavily damaged the CSX rail line and a tri-weekly train, the Sunset Limited, did not return after the rail line was rebuilt. The transcontinental train originally ran tri-weekly from Los Angeles to Miami along the I-10 gulf coast corridor but terminated short at New Orleans following the hurricane.
The completion of a platform and work on a side holding track off the main line at Mobile are underway. Amtrak will be rolling out a public safety campaign to alert the public that the trains will be operating at a higher speed than freight service and to be cautious at railroad crossings.
Details like the marketing efforts, fares, the name of the train service, and food and beverage offerings are expected to come out soon as well.
In February, Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker pointed to a summer start-up, which could begin with an inaugural trip in June. Wicker invited Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to the gulf coast for the restart of service.
Another development during the Southern Rail Commission's quarterly meeting was the announcement that Florida lawmakers have filed bills to allow that state to join the Southern Rail Commission and extend Amtrak service to Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Orlando.
The Southern Rail Commission's current congressional charter lists the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama but does not preclude the agency from expanding to contiguous states. That could include Florida, Georgia and even Texas. However there has been no interest to date from the Texas Department of Transportation or the Texas state legislature to join the SRC, despite requests from advocates. The SRC's three current state members would also have to approve the addition of another participating state.
The Florida bills, HB 833, in the House and Senate bill SB 966, state that “by joining the SRC, Florida can leverage the power of a multistate coalition to study, plan, and obtain federal funding for passenger rail without obligating this state to spend state funds on infrastructure.”
Florida's house bill is sponsored by state Reps. Yvonne Hayes Hinson (D-Gainesville) and Daryl Dampbell (D-Fort Lauderdale). The Senate companion bill was authored by Sen. Tracy Davis (D-Jacksonville).