MOBILE – Passenger trains will once again round the bend in Mobile thanks to a bipartisan effort in Washington and the cooperation of local officials.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg joined Amtrak representatives and city leaders on Tuesday for the groundbreaking of the new Amtrak facilities.
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Photo: Erica Thomas.
“It took a lot of hard work and effort and funding and collaboration across state lines, across party lines and across public-private lines to make this happen,” Buttigieg said. “But now we’re here to celebrate the work that will reconnect Mobile to a larger passenger rail network, supporting these communities with the high-impact investments and long-term upgrades they deserve.”
The Mobile City Council in August approved measures to bring back Amtrak. The city will contribute $3 million over three years.
The Alabama Port Authority will contribute $1 million over three years, and city leaders hope the state will contribute as well.
“It’s a great partnership that got us here,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. “And I would say it will just be a joint effort and a bipartisan effort that will continue as we move forward.”
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Amtrak conductor John Morgan. Photo: Erica Thomas.
The Federal Railroad Administration awarded a $178.4 million grant for the project.
“With that infrastructure package came the resources to allocate more than $178 million to get this project across the finish line,” Buttigieg added. “And thanks to that cooperation and coordination with Congress, with Amtrak, with the Southern Rail Commission, with CSX and Mobile City Council and Mayor Stimson, we are ready to get Gulf Coast Rail going again.”
Work will begin on the Amtrak intermediate track and platform. Crews will upgrade the track and station and install signals to prevent delays. It is unclear when services will begin.
Amtrak conductor John Morgan said he was eager to transfer to the Gulf Coast to get things going.
Amtrak conductor John Morgan. Photo: Erica Thomas.
“I appreciate everyone’s hard work to get us to this point,” Morgan said. “There are a number of people, as you heard today, who made this success possible. Many individuals leading the way and many of us working behind the scenes, and we are all very excited about welcoming our first passengers. to the train and seeing the experience you can have here and transforming the Gulf Coast with other transportation options.”
The station was closed in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Once completed, passengers will be able to travel between New Orleans and Mobile with two round trips per day.
“When Amtrak service was here before Katrina, we got through less than once a day,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “That’s not enough for the region’s growing population. Our team is as ready as you are to hear us say, ‘All of you on board.’
Knox Ross, the chairman of the Southern Rail Commission, said officials have been working for years to return the Gulf Coast route to Amtrak. He said it was a project that many thought would never happen.
Mobile officials and politicians gather to celebrate Amtrak’s groundbreaking. Photo: Erica Thomas.
“I am so grateful and we are so grateful on behalf of the Southern Rail Commission in our three states,” Ross said. “This comes full circle. This was pretty much the last thing that hadn’t come back from Katrina and it reconnects our coastal cities and opens our beautiful Gulf Coast to the nation.”
“It’s just like the president, Roger Harris, said about Amtrak; he said, ‘I didn’t know this was here,'” Ross continued. “Well, this train is going to show people that it’s here and ready for the day. So all we really have to say is that you’re all aboard!”
To contact the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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