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With grant, Amtrak plans Gulf Coast route's return, 18 years after Katrina
With grant, Amtrak plans Gulf Coast route’s return, 18 years after Katrina
Grant for improvements to launch rail service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., nearly two decades after hurricane destroyed infrastructure
By Luz Lazo
Updated September 25, 2023 at 4:05 p.m. EDT | Published September 25, 2023 at 3:53 p.m. EDT
The CSX rail line in Bay St. Louis, Miss. Amtrak has sought to resume passenger travel on a Gulf Coast route that would pass through Bay Saint Louis. (Emily Kask for The Washington Post)
Passenger trains along the Gulf Coast are inching closer to reality as Amtrak secured critical funding Monday for improvements needed to restore service nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina flooded the region’s rail infrastructure.
The Transportation Department awarded Amtrak a $178.4 million grant for track and signal work, crossing upgrades and station improvements that are required to start taking people between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., as early as next year. The project is among dozens nationwide to receive a government boost Monday from a federal rail program.
The Gulf Coast funding was announced nearly a year after two freight companies and Amtrak settled a bitter dispute over restoring passenger service. The agreement between Amtrak, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern offered a path to the return of passenger trains along the 140-mile route — a key expansion of Amtrak service in the South.
[ Railroads to settle years-long dispute over Gulf Coast passenger service ]
Amtrak has proposed two daily round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, including stops in the Mississippi cities of Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. That plan is an expansion of its pre-Katrina service, when long-distance trains arrived overnight, three times a week.
{snip}
By Luz Lazo
Luz Lazo is a transportation reporter at The Washington Post covering passenger and freight transportation, buses, taxis and ride-sharing services. She also writes about traffic, road infrastructure and air travel in the Washington region and beyond. She joined The Post in 2011. Twitter https://twitter.com/luzcita
Grant for improvements to launch rail service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., nearly two decades after hurricane destroyed infrastructure
By Luz Lazo
Updated September 25, 2023 at 4:05 p.m. EDT | Published September 25, 2023 at 3:53 p.m. EDT
The CSX rail line in Bay St. Louis, Miss. Amtrak has sought to resume passenger travel on a Gulf Coast route that would pass through Bay Saint Louis. (Emily Kask for The Washington Post)
Passenger trains along the Gulf Coast are inching closer to reality as Amtrak secured critical funding Monday for improvements needed to restore service nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina flooded the region’s rail infrastructure.
The Transportation Department awarded Amtrak a $178.4 million grant for track and signal work, crossing upgrades and station improvements that are required to start taking people between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., as early as next year. The project is among dozens nationwide to receive a government boost Monday from a federal rail program.
The Gulf Coast funding was announced nearly a year after two freight companies and Amtrak settled a bitter dispute over restoring passenger service. The agreement between Amtrak, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern offered a path to the return of passenger trains along the 140-mile route — a key expansion of Amtrak service in the South.
[ Railroads to settle years-long dispute over Gulf Coast passenger service ]
Amtrak has proposed two daily round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, including stops in the Mississippi cities of Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. That plan is an expansion of its pre-Katrina service, when long-distance trains arrived overnight, three times a week.
{snip}
By Luz Lazo
Luz Lazo is a transportation reporter at The Washington Post covering passenger and freight transportation, buses, taxis and ride-sharing services. She also writes about traffic, road infrastructure and air travel in the Washington region and beyond. She joined The Post in 2011. Twitter https://twitter.com/luzcita