The construction of a train stop, and a track leading to it in downtown Mobile, is the final infrastructure issue that needs to be addressed before Amtrak can restart passenger trains along the Gulf Coast for the first time in 18 years, officials say.

Mobile is the only city along the route to New Orleans without infrastructure built to accommodate an Amtrak train. Other cities that are stops along the Gulf Coast route – Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis – have train stops or depots ready to go in preparation for Amtrak’s restart.

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Mobile last had a train station in downtown Mobile in 2005, when it was destroyed by storm surge from Hurricane Katrina. Amtrak has not operated routinely along the Gulf Coast since the storm.

“The train needs a place to serve Mobile,” said Marc Magliari, spokesman with Amtrak, describing Mobile as a “key element” toward Amtrak bringing service back to the Gulf Coast after years of planning, discussions, and negotiations with freight operators and the Alabama State Port Authority.

“In terms of stations, Mobile is the last one to be finished,” Magliari said.

He said that other capital infrastructure along the track can be finished while Amtrak trains are rolling along the Gulf Coast route. A federal grant indicated that a total of $225 million in capital projects are needed to the route for the twice-daily operation between Mobile and New Orleans to operate on a schedule of 3 hours and 23 minutes between the two cities. The service also includes the four stops in Mississippi.

“I don’t have any (notions) that Mobile is holding up the works here,” said Knox Ross, chairman of the Southern Rail Commission that advocates on behalf of passenger rail opportunities in several Southern states including Alabama. “I think it’s more that the railroads have to come together on an agreement to do improvements necessary to receive a train. I think everyone is working on that.”

‘Preliminary’ talks

Amtrak officials and Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s administration met last week to discuss what a train stop, or a train station could look like adjacent to Cooper Riverside Park at the foot of Water and Government streets.

Candace Cooksey, a spokeswoman with Stimpson’s office, described the meeting as “preliminary” to determine “what we need to pull together and what our next steps are.”

She said the city’s attorneys and real estate officials are working with Amtrak to analyze the train stop site, and “presumably determine some kind of lease agreement.”

“None of those decisions are made yet,” Cooksey said. She said the anticipation is for Amtrak to restart along the route before the end of the year.

“From that meeting, our agreement is we’d connect our legal departments and real estate departments and get a survey done on the property,” Cooksey said. “Those are the initial steps. There is interest in getting more plans on paper.”

Drawings are available on what a future train station will look like. In 2019, the city’s former director of Real Estate Management unveiled several renderings of a future station that included overhangs to protect passengers from inclement weather, parking and enclosed passenger waiting rooms with restrooms. The proposal did not include a building with ticket booths.

The proposal also considered building the station “completely off the main tracks,” which is part of the current considerations. A 1,300-foot track off the main line was also part of those considerations.

“We are digging up our previous paperwork and renderings to take another look at it,” Cooksey said. “Certainly, we’re revisiting those concepts.”

CSX involvement

Mobile is only one part of the downtown project. CSX, according to a federal grant application in December, will lead the efforts in building a new rail line approximately 3,000 feet west of the main freight line.

That line is used by CSX and was a focal point of concerns during months of disagreements and negotiations before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. The dispute, which lasted most of 2022, was resolved in November under a confidentiality agreement that prohibited the parties from disclosing much.

A CSX spokeswoman declined to comment about the Mobile project, citing the “confidential nature of the settlement agreement.”

A Consolidate Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program application in December for $179 million in federal funds disclosed some of the capital improvements needed along the rail line.

CSX, Norfolk Southern and the Port Authority, according to the grant application, will contribute $15.4 million toward the infrastructure improvements. The grant application does not disclose how much the Mobile work will cost nor its timeline for completion. Southern Rail Commissioners, for months, have said the Gulf Coast project will start in 2023.

Amtrak will contribute $6 million, and the states of Mississippi and Louisiana are allocating $23.1 million. Alabama has not committed any finances toward the project, though the Mobile City Council voted 6-1 in early 2020, to commit $3 million over a three-year period to support the project.

The total cost within the CRISI grant for the upgrades is $223 million, which encompasses 13 separate areas along the rail route including downtown Mobile. The projects include crossing improvements, siding extensions and turnouts – most of which can be completed while Amtrak is already operating along the Gulf Coast. The projects are expected to be wrapped up by 2026.