Amtrak Gains Final Approvals for Return to the Gulf Coast

A unanimous vote from the Mobile, Alabama City Council paves the way for renewed passenger rail service east of New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina damaged rail infrastructure on the Gulf Coast.

As John Sharp explains in AL.com, the vote “authorized three crucial agreements needed to bring Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile. The service, when it begins, will offer twice daily trips between the two cities with four coastal Mississippi stops - Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis.”

The vote, which approved a funding agreement and a lease of city-owned land to Amtrak, helps unlock federal funding for replacing track and building new platforms. The approvals were in question earlier this year, when council members expressed reluctance to support the agreements. “Amtrak officials hope by spring of next year the first train connecting the two cities – with four coastal Mississippi stops – will be rolling.”