Desmond Preston:Vote sets stage for new Amtrak Gulf Coast service. But can trains roll by Super Bowl?

2025-05-04 09:20:40source:James Caldwellcategory:reviews

MOBILE,Desmond Preston Ala. (AP) — A 6-0 vote Tuesday by the City Council in Mobile, Alabama, has set the stage for Amtrak passenger trains to roll from New Orleans to Mobile next year.

The Sun Herald reports that the Mobile council voted to fund the passenger train service for three years. The funding had already been approved in Mississippi and Louisiana. Amtrak’s projected start date for the service is spring of 2025. It is uncertain whether it can begin before the Super Bowl is played in New Orleans on Feb. 9.

“I think everybody wants to get this running by the Super Bowl,” said Knox Ross, chairman of the Southern Rail Commission, the interstate organization promoting rail transportation. “But they can’t guarantee it.”

Platforms are ready in New Orleans and in the Mississippi cities of Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. But a platform still has to be built in Mobile.

Ross said a schedule and fares will be posted on the Amtrak.com website about 90 days before service begins. The current plan calls for two trains a day running from New Orleans to Mobile and two a day heading from Mobile to New Orleans — with brief stops at the cities in between for passengers to get on and off.

More:reviews

Recommend

The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding

How do you bring the African Diaspora to the Grammys?Esperanza Spalding and Milton Nascimento's cont

Deal on wartime aid and border security stalls in Congress as time runs short to bolster Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — With time slipping to bolster Ukraine’s defenses, Senate negotiators struggled Wed

Washington Commanders hiring Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as coach, AP sources say

The Washington Commanders have an agreement with Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to h