Amtrak Gets Final Gulf Coast Approval – NOLA Trains Running Soon

Passenger rail service that would connect New Orleans Louisiana to Mobile Alabama has been cussed and discussed for years ever since Hurricane Katrina disrupted the service back in 2005. It has taken almost twenty years but it now appears as though passenger rail service across the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coast will become a reality. And that reality could be sooner than a lot of people expected.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf South in 2005 the devastation was most prolific from the New Orleans area eastward across the Mississippi Gulf Coast and into Lower Alabama. The storm destroyed millions of dollars in infrastructure. One of those industries that was affected deeply by the storm was Amtrak's passenger rail service between New Orleans and Mobile.

In the past few years, the Southern Rail Commission has pushed the idea of bringing the service back. Of course, the big stumbling block was funding. That problem was partially resolved when the federal government announced a sweeping plan to improve the country's infrastructure. The governments of Louisiana and Mississippi stepped in and announced they would help pitch in.

That meant the only funding source that had not come to the table was the state of Alabama. They declined. But the Mobile City Council has stepped up and as of Tuesday agreed to fund the project for at least the next three years. And because of the delay in securing funding the Alabama leg of the project will be the final piece to the puzzle.

Sources close to the projects say train stations in Mississippi and New Orleans are ready to begin service. The station and platform in Mobile will still need to be built. That should take a few months and when its complete the train service could begin.

Plans call for two trains a day to run from Mobile to New Orleans and two trains from New Orleans to Mobile. Each train will stop at each of the four stops in Mississippi. Those stops include Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula.

Amtrak is hoping that passenger rail will be active by the time the Super Bowl is played in New Orleans. That date is set as February 9th. It is possible that rail service could begin by then. Here's what you should be looking for.

Amtrak will post the new service schedule on its website about 90 days before service begins. If the Super Bowl is the target date, that should mean the schedule will be posted on or about November 9th.

Ticket prices and the official timetable and schedule will be published when the route is officially published on the Amtrak website. Prospective passengers should be able to purchase tickets via the web or the Amtrak app.