Interstate rail compacts “deliver results and hold tremendous promise in advancing passenger rail development,” FRA Acting Administrator Amit Bose said during a recent quarterly meeting of the Southern Rail Commission (SRC).
“Unripe.” That is what CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS) have called Amtrak’s application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) asking for an order requiring the freight railroads to permit access for twice daily round-trip passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, starting on or about Jan. 1, 2022.
In a move that appears to be a pre-emptive strike, Amtrak has asked the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to intervene on its behalf if CSX and Norfolk Southern don’t cooperate on hosting proposed new service between New Orleans and Mobile.
There is a good deal of controversy swirling around proposed new intercity passenger rail service between New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala., involving Amtrak, two Class I railroads, a multi-state agency and a major Alabama port.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) on Feb. 16, 2016 announced that a new group has been established to study the return of passenger rail service between New Orleans, La. to Orlando, Fla. along the Gulf Coast. This line of service was lost after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.