April 10, 2023 | Intercity

Report: Mobile Train Stop ‘Final Infrastructure Issue’ Before Amtrak Gulf Coast Service Can Restart

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor

The construction of a train stop, and a track leading to it in downtown Mobile, Ala., officials say, is the “final infrastructure issue that needs to be addressed before Amtrak can restart passenger trains along the Gulf Coast for the first time in 18 years, according to an AL.com report.

According to the report, Mobile, which last had a train station in 2005 before it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, is “the only city along the route to New Orleans without infrastructure built to accommodate an Amtrak train.” Other cities along the Gulf Coast route, including Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis, have train stops or depots “ready to go” in preparation for Amtrak’s restart.

“The train needs a place to serve Mobile,” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, who described Mobile as a “key element” toward Amtrak bringing service back to the Gulf Coast after “years of planning, discussions, and negotiations with freight operators and the Alabama State Port Authority,” according to the AI.com report.

“In terms of stations, Mobile is the last one to be finished,” said Magliari, adding that the other capital infrastructure along the track can be finished while Amtrak trains are rolling along the Gulf Coast route.

According to the AL.com report, a federal grant indicated that a total of $225 million in capital projects are needed to the route for the twice-daily operation between Mobile and New Orleans to operate on a schedule of three hours and 23 minutes between the two cities. The service also includes the four stops in Mississippi.

{snip}

News

Mobile’s train stop ‘key element’ for Amtrak’s return to Gulf Coast

Published: Apr. 03, 2023, 7:01 a.m.



A rendering of what the proposed train station will look like in downtown Mobile, Ala. The rendering was first revealed during an informational session on Friday, July 12, 2019, at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center in Mobile, Ala. (Drawing by Mott McDonald and including in Southern Rail Commission's presentation on Friday, July 12, 2019).

By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com

The construction of a train stop, and a track leading to it in downtown Mobile, is the final infrastructure issue that needs to be addressed before Amtrak can restart passenger trains along the Gulf Coast for the first time in 18 years, officials say.

Mobile is the only city along the route to New Orleans without infrastructure built to accommodate an Amtrak train. Other cities that are stops along the Gulf Coast route – Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis – have train stops or depots ready to go in preparation for Amtrak’s restart.

Mobile last had a train station in downtown Mobile in 2005, when it was destroyed by storm surge from Hurricane Katrina. Amtrak has not operated routinely along the Gulf Coast since the storm.

“The train needs a place to serve Mobile,” said Marc Magliari, spokesman with Amtrak, describing Mobile as a “key element” toward Amtrak bringing service back to the Gulf Coast after years of planning, discussions, and negotiations with freight operators and the Alabama State Port Authority. ... “In terms of stations, Mobile is the last one to be finished,” Magliari said.

{snip}