Amtrak passenger service on track for rail service across Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Orlando [View all]

[KamaAina]

xpost from GD.

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/15291718-130/amtrak-passenger-service-on-track-to-return-to-gulf-coast

Five weeks ago, an Amtrak inspection train rolled across south Mississippi for the first time since Hurricane Katrina....

The group suggested a daily round-trip train from New Orleans through south Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama, and a long-distance train that would connect from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida, through Jacksonville, Florida....

From April 1993 until Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, the Sunset Limited Amtrak line ran from Los Angeles to Jacksonville. But the service has been out of commission for more than a decade because of the devastating storm.

There’s been some movement to restore the service, as part of a $9.5 billion long-distance Amtrak service that would run from Chicago to New Orleans, then veer east along the Gulf Coast to Orlando.

Yes, that would finally connect Chicago (and thus most of the Midwest) to Florida without having to go through DC, but it's about the same distance. Why there is not a more direct route through Atlanta is above my pay grade.

h/t TexasTowelie