203 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

WALA-TV, Fox-10 in Mobile, AL, 6/16/24:

 

 

    Mobile County to hold Amtrak/simulation exercise Monday    

 

Mobile County officials say there will be increased first responder presence for a closed training exercise south of downtown Mobile Monday morning.

 

They say it will take place at the CSX rail yard and will be an Amtrak exercise/simulation for first responders.

 

 

Item

[CNJRoss]

Trains News Wire

 

Alabama port authority votes to help fund Amtrak service

 

By Trains Staff | June 19, 2024

 

Turnabout by former opponent helps advance funding deal

 

MOBILE, Ala. — A once-unlikely source — the Alabama State Port Authority — has agreed to provide a share of the funding needed to launch Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.

 

On Tuesday, the Port Authority board, once a vehement opponent of Gulf Coast service on the grounds it might interfere with freight operations, agreed to provide $1 million toward costs for the first three years of the passenger operation, WALA-TV reports. 

 

SNIP  

 

While the unanimous vote by the Port Authority board clears one more hurdle in the long-running effort to launch the Gulf Coast service, the state has still not identified a source for its share of the funds, since its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year is already set.  . . .

 

 

Continue here. 

[KevinKorell]

WALA-TV,  Fox-10 in Mobile, AL, 6/25/24:

 

 

 

    Amtrak plan in jeopardy: Mobile City Council lacks the votes    

 

 

 

District 6 City Councilman Josh Woods said Tuesday he does not support the current proposal to bring Amtrak back to the Port City, making it clear the project lacks sufficient support.

 

Full story

 

This is ludicrous.    Mississippi has had its stations prepared and ready to go for some time, and certainly New Orleans can handle the two extra trains per day.    Mobile, and to a greater extent, the state of Alabama, have been dragging their heels and bogging the whole thing down for several years now.   While Mobile needs both a functional station and a storage site to store and turn the trains, it is the key to the whole project.   

 

Maybe Amtrak needs to get the service up and running now, but only run to Pascagoula or Biloxi, and then cross the border into Alabama when they are good and ready.   Push-pull equipment seems to be in vogue these days, so it would be a moot point to worry about where to wye the train.

[KevinKorell]

US News & World Report,  6/26/24:

 

 

    Plan for Returning Amtrak Service to Gulf Coast Could Be Derailed by Alabama City Leaders    

 

 

Not everyone is on board with a plan to return Amtrak trains to the Gulf Coast, which would restore passenger service to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana for the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

 

 

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