Concerns about Mobile’s costs for the operations of the Amtrak Gulf Coast route, and concerns from the Alabama State Port Authority are resurfacing after a $178.8 million federal grant awarded Friday to cover most of the improvements along the Gulf Coast line.

And the latest twist among Mobile’s worries: The train could be operating in close proximity of the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, an Alabama representative of the Southern Rail Commission said.

The federal funding for railroad improvements was part of a $1.4 billion announcement by the Federal Railroad Administration through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. Not awarded within the funding is the construction of the Mobile train stop, which is being handled by CSX.

Knox Ross, chairman of the Southern Rail Commission (SRC), said that aside from building the Mobile train stop, “everything has been done to run the train.”

He had previously indicated that the official awarding of the CRISI grant would allow for the capital projects to go forward to get Amtrak restarting the Gulf Coast route for the first time since 2005.

But it could take months before Mobile designs, builds and moves forward with a train stop.

Candace Cooksey, spokeswoman with the City of Mobile, said the city’s focus is on a lease agreement for the train stop and an operating agreement that will include costs that the city will incur to support the train route for the next six years.

“The initial plan is for a platform to bring up to ADA compliance and get it into good enough shape to be operational,” Cooksey said. “(Amtrak and CSX) would then work on a permanent platform in the future, and we may look at any sort of upgrades in the future depending on how this goes. But all of that is related to the land use agreement. Those details are being worked out, and simultaneously, we have to work out the details of an operating agreement.”

She said there is no timeline in getting both agreements completed. The train stop is proposed at Cooper Riverside Park facing Government and Water streets.

“We’re not putting any pressure on them,” Ross said about the work in Mobile. “But it’s the last check in the box.”

Negotiations are continuing between the City of Mobile and Amtrak over an agreement to allow the facility to be built within walking distance of the Alabama Cruise Terminal, the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center and the heart of downtown Mobile.

David Clark, president & CEO with Visit Mobile – and an Alabama representative on the SRC — said there are unanswered questions looming about the costs Mobile taxpayers will have to make support the train’s operations. He said those concerns focus on the city’s share of a Restoration & Enhancement (R&E) grants the City Council voted in early 2020 to support, but which has likely changed since then.

Cooksey said that agreement is not longer relevant, noting that it is set to expire in 2024.

It is the first time that concerns over the R&E grant has been mentioned publicly since early 2020, or right before the council approved $3 million over three years to support the Amtrak service. As proposed, the train will operate a twice-daily service connecting Mobile to New Orleans with four stops in coastal Mississippi.

The revised R&E program is to support a project for six years.

“We need a clear distinction on what the new annual costs are in each of those six years,” Clark said. “I’m a little unclear, at this point, as a commissioner. I want the numbers re-run. At the end of the day, I’m appointed by the governor and I need to make sure the mayor and city council have absolute right numbers to some degree of accuracy.”

Clark said that I-10 and its future construction could also be a concern. The $2.9 billion project, which is set to be under construction next year, includes a new bridge over the Mobile River starting south of the downtown area.

“We still have work to do on the ground lease and the design of the platform, which can take three to four months, and how that design plays out in the that space (near Cooper Riverside Park) and how that space will be relatively close to the new I-10 bridge,” Clark said. He later said it’s not a huge concern, but that the location of the bridge should be taken under consideration.

He also said there remains concerns from the Alabama State Port Authority, which seemingly had been resolved when a settlement agreement before the STB was announced last November. Since then, all parties in a years-long dispute over the Amtrak project – Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern and the Port Authority – have been silent about the details in the final agreement.

The CRISI grant is considered a significant part of that agreement. It is the only part that has been made public. The agreement lays out the $178.4 million in federal funding to improve the Gulf Coast track along with $44.6 million from non-federal matching funds:

• $23.1 million from the states of Louisiana and Mississippi
• $15.6 million from CSX, Norfolk Southern and the Alabama Port
• $6.2 million from Amtrak.

Maggie Oliver, spokeswoman with the Alabama State Port Authority, said that since all parties are still operating within the terms of a confidential settlement agreement, she was limited on what she could say.

“The Port is pleased to be one step closer to completing the terms of our joint settlement agreement with Amtrak and resolving the litigation brought forth by Amtrak to the Surface Transportation Board in 2019,” Oliver said.

This story was updated with comments from Candace Cooksey with the City of Mobile.