The end of this month will mark the 19th anniversary in which Hurricane Katrina ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast, knocking out passenger rail service east of New Orleans ever since.

But after years of negotiations, litigation, and frustrations, the conductor hats might be ready to go on sometime in early 2025, in anticipation of an “All aboard!” shout in downtown Mobile.

Or is that “Y’all aboard?” Whatever the case, final bureaucratic hurdle was cleared Tuesday after the Mobile City Council, with surprising unanimous approvals, authorized three crucial agreements needed to bring a state-supported, twice-daily Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile.

The council’s vote was the final governmental requirement needed for Amtrak’s return to the Mobile. Once restarted, the train will be the first to bring passengers to Mobile since the Sunset Limited ceased operating from New Orleans to Jacksonville after August 2005.

“All aboard, we got it done,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said after the council’s votes, which were met by an applause inside Government Plaza. “It’s a win, win, win situation.”

Next steps

The next stop for the long and winding Gulf Coast train saga will include the release of a $178.4 million federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant, construction of a new Amtrak platform in downtown Mobile, the construction by CSX of a 3,000-foot layover track to accommodate the twice-day passenger trains, and the finalization of marketing and branding for new service.

But plenty of unknowns still exist such as the official return of the Amtrak trains, and how much a round-trip fare will cost. Amtrak officials hope by spring of next year the first train connecting the two cities – with four coastal Mississippi stops – will be rolling.

“A lot of this stuff, we’ve been waiting on (Mobile to authorize its agreements),” said Knox Ross, chairman of the Southern Rail Commission, a train advocacy organization formed by Congress in 1982 and representing the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Ross said by Halloween, he hopes to see a groundbreaking for the project and an official announcement on the branding of the new train.

“That’s our aspirational goal,” he said.

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Agreement approvals

For now, there is relief and celebration for passenger rail advocates over the council’s approval of three agreements:

• A funding agreement that dedicates $3.048 million over three years to support the operations of the Gulf Coast route.
• A lease agreement that allows Amtrak to construction a train depot on city-owned land across Water Street from the Exploreum and adjacent to the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center.
• An intergovernmental agreement with the Alabama State Port Authority that provides $1 million from the Port’s budget to help offset Mobile’s city commitment.

Stimpson said that he anticipates the city’s overall commitment reduced down to around $1 million over three years as long as Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and the State Legislature includes a $1 million, three-year commitment in its budget.

“We have to take the administration at its word,” Stimpson said, referring to Ivey’s office which has vocally expressed interest in a financial commitment toward the project. “There is not a line item to draw from right now (within the state’s budget). But I’m confident it will be included.”

The council’s support of the agreements is a radical reversal from what the group was at in late May, when it appeared a majority of them had deep reservations about providing funding support.

On Tuesday, at least two of those council members – Joel Daves and Ben Reynolds – said there were multiple factors that played into their backing of the project, including $72 million of the CRISI grant going toward rail infrastructure improvements in Alabama, most of which will at least indirectly benefit the Port of Mobile.

“The $72 million rail improvements will ensure the Port of Mobile is supported by first-class transportation infrastructure,” Daves said. “The Port is critical to Mobile and the transportation infrastructure which comes along with the commitment to Amtrak, is critical to the Port.”

Maggie Oliver, a spokesperson with the Alabama State Port Authority, said approximately $4 million of the CRISI grant includes the construction of approximately 5,500 feet of new and improved existing tracks that will directly benefit their operations.

The inclusion of that project was one of the reasons why the Port Authority along the freight operators along the Gulf Coast line – CSX and Norfolk Southern – approved a settlement with Amtrak in a high-profile case before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board back in November 2022.

Daves also said he supported the agreements after the lease was amended by the council to restrict the addition of future train routes during the three-year agreement. Under those new terms, if Amtrak pursues any east- or northbound routes from Mobile during the three-year agreement, the city can terminate it.

Ray Lang, vice-president of state-supported services with Amtrak, said he cannot recall another lease arrangement with a city that include restrictions to future growth. Daves and past and present port officials have said they have concerned about passenger trains interfering freight operations within the Port of Mobile’s railyard north of the Convention Center.

Lang, though, said he’s unconcerned about the provision.

“Let’s look at it this way,” he said. “We’re getting to the gate. We’re starting two daily round trips to New Orleans and connecting (Mobile) to the rest of the national system (at Union Passenger Terminal near the Caesar’s Superdome).”

Beyond three years

The funding agreement approved by the council also includes language that commits Amtrak to seek additional support after the initial three-years is concluded – sometime in 2027.

Lang said he believes the State of Alabama – much like the states of Mississippi and Louisiana – will be willing to provide fiscal support for the ongoing operations of the rail line.

“We have an excellent relationship with the Southern Rail Commission and they are professionalizing that organization and, in a few years, that entity will be the entity to represent the states and we will work with them on that future funding agreement,” Lang said.

Ross said the City of Mobile was approached this year for a funding commitment to support the route because “this was the only way to do it.”

He said the SRC has approached Ivey and former Gov. Robert Bentley’s administration for past support, to no avail. “We’ve asked everybody,” he said. “Only the City of Mobile said hey would do this.”

But the last time the Mobile City Council voted to support the operations of the rail route was in early February 2020 – 4 years, six months ago.

That vote was approved by the council with a 6-1 decision – Daves serving as the only “No” vote. This time around, the SRC and Amtrak were met with more skepticism about having the city’s taxpayers provide the lion share of funding the state-supported route when there are few instances in the U.S. of municipal governments having to do so.

“I understand their reluctance,” Ross said. “They ask, ‘Why are we having to do this?’ and that is a legitimate question. We are grateful they are deciding to do this.”