Amtrak From Louisiana Across Gulf Coast Start Dates Revealed?

Has it been 20 years? It has. It was 2005 when people in Lafayette, Alexandria, Shreveport, Monroe, and any city west of Baton Rouge watched in horror as Hurricane Katrina roared onshore in coastal Louisiana. The storm's damage changed life along the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to Vermilion Bay. And even still, we've still not fully recovered.

In the days immediately following Katrina's landfall we saw the flooding in New Orleans. We saw the decimation in St Bernard Parish. We saw massive Interstate highway bridges toppled and turned into rubble. And yes, we saw a key piece of infrastructure, railroad tracks along the Gulf Coast, twisted, bent, and rendered unsafe.

Fast forward from 2005 to 2025 and it's pretty easy to see that we've built a lot of the roadways back. New Orleans has revamped the leveee system and the coordinated pumping stations needed to keep the city dry. The Mississippi Gulf Coast has exploded with even more casinos and apparently before the official 20th anniversary of Katrina's landfall, we're going to get the return of passenger rail service between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama.

I don't think it would be fair to call the information coming from United States Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi a "leak". But I do think statements made by Senator Wicker are a ringing endorsement that Louisiana train enthusiasts will be able to take the train to Biloxi and beyond before the fourth of July.

According to Al.com, Senator Wicker has extended an invitation to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to come to Mississippi in June when "Amtrak services are expected to return along the Gulf Coast".

To add even more fuel to the fire of Wicker's comments are the physical signs of progress in the city of Mobile, Alabama. Apparently construction equipment and fencing has gone up in the area where the train station in Mobile will be located. That station is the final piece to the return to rail puzzle.

Once service is up and running passengers will be able to book trips between New Orleans and Mobile. The twice-daily trains will also stop in Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis. This should make visiting the Gulf Coast casinos even easier for those in Alabama or Louisiana who don't want to drive.

Amtrak has not commented on Senator Wicker's comments. According to the rail service provider, there has been no official start date or timeline for the resumption of service to begin. Perhaps, that's because there is still quite a bit of construction, especially in Mobile, that needs to be completed.

As a frequent passenger on Amtrak trains, I can tell you they play their cards close to the vest when it comes to making service announcements. I am speculating that we won't get too much advanced notice on when the service will start, what the timetables will be, and what the fares will be. If Amtrak behaves the way it has behaved in the past we might only get a couple of weeks or a month at the most when it comes to advanced notice.

But you can bet with so many millions of dollars involved in this project and so many political backsides ready to take credit for it, you know there will be a major press conference when the details are released.

Personally, I can't wait for the service to complete the loop. Can you imagine getting on a train in New Orleans and riding to Los Angeles? Then riding from L.A. to Seattle? Then riding from Seattle to Chicago and New York? And then riding down the eastern seaboard to New Orleans again? Talk about a Mark Twain-like adventure. It would be like riding a riverboat on rails.

Please note, this is a developing story and updates will be provided as new information becomes available.