The Dam Has Broken!

Amtrak Update - June 2024

“It looks like the dam has finally broken,” says Knox Ross, a Southern Rail Commissioner who has been working for more than 13 years to help restore passenger rail service from New Orleans to Mobile.

​- by Ellis Anderson

Amtrak train image courtesy Southern Rail Commission.

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​It’s been almost twenty years – before Hurricane Katrina – since the last passenger train rolled out of Mobile. In the obstacle-filled journey to restore the service, the Southern Rail Commission, made up of members from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, have been unrelenting in finding solutions, securing funding, and building strong bipartisan bridges of support.
 
But the most challenging issue has been ensuring that the Port of Mobile – which in 2021 contributed $85 billion to the Alabama state economy and relies heavily on freight trains – wouldn’t be adversely affected by Amtrak’s use of the rails.
 

Meeting of the Southern Rail Commission in Mobile on June 7, 2024.

 
Recently, the Port has embraced passenger rail travel. So has Mobile mayor Sandy Stimpson and several city council members, thanks in part to a $72 million-dollar federal grant that will benefit both freight and passenger rail transportation in Alabama.
 
Knox Ross explained that the grant is critically needed, since few capacity improvements have taken place on that line in 40 or 50 years. In the meantime, freight train traffic has changed; there are fewer trains, but they’re longer.
 
Much of the new grant funding will go to building more second-track infrastructure in Alabama, preventing trains from having to sit and wait while another passes. And while the second tracks are necessary for the new passenger trains, they also will make freight traffic much more efficient.
 

Map of the route between New Orleans and Mobile.

 
“It’s a great deal for Alabama,” said Knox. “It brings their lines up to the 21st century. The port’s working very hard to expand their container traffic, so [the infrastructure improvements] open up capacity for them. It’s absolutely a win-win for everybody.
 
“Most elected officials we deal with want to do things their constituents want, and passenger rail service is one,” said Ross. “Now that Mayor Stimpson is comfortable that the port’s concerns have been addressed, he told us he’s going to be [passenger rail’s] biggest cheerleader.
 

The train tracks run beneath the sleek Mobile Convention Center, a contemporary 317,000-square-foot facility in downtown Mobile, next to a riverfront park. The new Amtrak passenger platform will be adjacent to the center and a stone’s throw from the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, the Alabama Cruise Ship Terminal – and across the street from the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. Photo by Ellis Anderson.

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“All that remains now is for the council to approve funding. At our last meeting with them, they wanted some state participation,” said Ross, “which is happening.”
 
There are two types of funding at play here: operating subsidy grants and infrastructure improvement grants.
 
The total grants for  infrastructure improvements in all three states amount to $228 million. Mississippi has contributed $14 million in matching funds, and Louisiana has contributed around $6 million in matching funds for the improvements.

A view of downtown Mobile from the future platform. In addition to several major hotels within blocks of the platform, there are 55 restaurants and 25 attractions within one mile. Photo by Ellis Anderson.

 
The operating subsidy grants ask all three parties to contribute $3 million, which Mississippi and Louisiana have done. In 2019, the Mobile city council agreed to contribute $3 million to the subsidy as well, but since then, new council members have been elected, and some are questioning why the city is being asked to cover the cost instead of the state. 
 
The Port has stepped up with an offer to cover $1 million, subject to approval by their board. Meanwhile, Mayor Sandy Stimpson delivered positive news at the June 11 city council meeting, reporting that funding discussions with Governor Kay Ivey’s office have been “warm and supportive.” While the 2025 state appropriations have been set, Ivey’s spokeswoman, Gina Maiola, reported that they’re “exploring options to potentially provide support.”
 

One proposed schedule shows times and stops. When service begins, it will be the first time since the 1960s that two trains a day have run between Mobile and New Orleans, making it possible to travel back and forth in a single day without driving.

 
According to sources, the Mobile City Council is expected to vote on the funding in 30-60 days. They must also sign a lease agreement with Amtrak for the platform site at the foot of Government and Water Streets, next to the Convention Center.
 
Platforms have already been constructed in all the other cities on the route. Mobile’s platform should take approximately four to six months to build. In the meantime, operating agreements between Amtrak and the three states will be finalized, putting the train start date sometime shortly after the first of the year.
 
“There have been so many delays, a lot of people thought it was never going to happen,” said Ross. “But it’s actually almost here! It’s time for people to get excited about it.”
 

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