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  • Amtrak New Gulf Coast Service - New Orleans to Mobile AL

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1518778  by gokeefe
 
Florida is probably the very last place in the U.S. right now that would consider new subsidies for Amtrak. They are having tremendous success with privately funded passenger rail. It's a minor miracle that Gulf Coast effort has stayed on track in such proximity to a privately funded alternative.
 #1518955  by David Benton
 
Not the right forum , but not sure which is .
2 things that surprise me.
-That Brightline have not started at least a once daily service, Miami to Jacksonville.( So doesn't surprise me they havent expressed interest in this service).
- That the FEC did not buy this CSX line , or shown any interest in expanding at all really.
 #1518976  by Tadman
 
John_Perkowski wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:55 am Oh, boy, old horizons and a crappy cafe car! Woohoo!

Kiss goodby the dreams of a transcontinental Sunset.
I'm very good with this. The horizon is simple but reliable. The food is another story, but I've been riding all over GB for a few meetings this week and most trains just have a cart. Cue the howling, but it works great and they're not dragging another 80 tons of steel in every train.

As for the transcon? It's dead. Let it be. Let's have a useful service to Mobile. The airports on the gulf coast are all super expensive, this has a chance of being useful.
 #1518995  by bdawe
 
David Benton wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:47 pm Not the right forum , but not sure which is .
2 things that surprise me.
-That Brightline have not started at least a once daily service, Miami to Jacksonville.( So doesn't surprise me they havent expressed interest in this service).
All the costs necessary for new-build passenger service for only one regional train?
 #1532763  by Jeff Smith
 
Backshophoss wrote: Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:09 am Mobile Al is for now a Turn point for NOL-MOB regional train,if it's started up.
CSX will require Amtrak to create a siding at Mobile for Layover/servicing/fueling.
CSX will stlll PUSH for Track upgrades on Amtrak's dime.
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 #1532765  by Jeff Smith
 
https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2020/01/ ... obile.html
Amtrak’s return to Mobile will run up against a Feb. 5 grant application deadline. The City Council opted Tuesday to wait one more week before deciding whether to commit future dollars to the project.

The week’s breathing room will allow Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s administration time to gather information on “two important elements” about the project, according to Paul Wesch, the mayor’s chief of staff. He described the two elements as “delicate and political.”

Despite the holdover, the council engaged in a lively debate about the merits of bringing Amtrak back to Mobile for the first time since 2005.
...
The resolution before the City Council requires Mobile to commit $3 million, starting in 2023, if the Southern Rail Commission receives a Restoration and Enhancement (R&E) grant from the Federal Railroad Administration.
...
 #1532806  by Tadman
 
That's great to hear. Mobile is one of my favorite places to visit. The food is so good if you like shellfish (and chili dogs).

I was there two weeks ago. I love driving around the state docks, plenty of shortline and class I - Mississippi Export, Alabama Gulf Coast, CN, CSX, and NS all in one place, plus the docks railroad.

From what I understand, the former Amtrak station is gone and replaced with the cruise terminal. The ex-GM&O station is very large and north-facing, meaning it's a bit much for 1-2/day and would require moves across lots of busy yards. Same with the SOU station, and it's also in rough shape. I was curious if the cruise terminal could be used as a train station was well, in some sort of multi-modal station. It's got ample parking in a good area.
 #1532807  by Jeff Smith
 
With this segment now in place, one wonders what the prospects are for the Gulf Breeze Mobile - Birmingham - Huntsville - Chattanooga (link to topic).

At 275 miles, I wonder what the timetable would be, and would it afford connections to the Crescent. I don't think anything beyond Birmingham north is feasible at this stage; Amtrak seems locked in on Chattanooga - Atlanta as part of the Tennessee strategy (viewtopic.php?f=46&t=170932). As noted upthread, the Governor (Ivey?) is not interested, but should this service prove to be feasible and bring people to Mobile whether for the cruise terminal or general tourism/business, then perhaps a link upstream via Birmingham to Atlanta may be in the cards.
 #1541518  by gokeefe
 
This project has some of the strongest political support of any service restoration in Amtrak's history. It is truly amazing to see how hard it is being pushed at the national level. There is a sense of determination here that is very rare with federal agencies. I'm impressed and I think the project as proposed is very worthy.
 #1541525  by GWoodle
 
Jeff Smith wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 3:30 pm With this segment now in place, one wonders what the prospects are for the Gulf Breeze Mobile - Birmingham - Huntsville - Chattanooga (link to topic).

At 275 miles, I wonder what the timetable would be, and would it afford connections to the Crescent. I don't think anything beyond Birmingham north is feasible at this stage; Amtrak seems locked in on Chattanooga - Atlanta as part of the Tennessee strategy (https://railroad.net/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=170932). As noted upthread, the Governor (Ivey?) is not interested, but should this service prove to be feasible and bring people to Mobile whether for the cruise terminal or general tourism/business, then perhaps a link upstream via Birmingham to Atlanta may be in the cards.
Seems to me you could ask about a Crescent 2, a New Orleans Mobile to Atlanta train. You could also ask about a Gulf Breeze New Orleans to Jacksonville train. Maybe there are examples of services Amtrak could run with old P42 & Amfleet or Horizon cars bumped & refurbished by new low level NEC + Midwest fleets.
 #1541528  by Rockingham Racer
 
Going to JAX is not going to be easy, as CSX has sold a portion of the line to a short line. Doesn't make the proposition impossible, but it does present one more entity to deal with in the execution of the plan.

As for strong support, perhaps, but it was not unanimous. Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama did not want to help out with funding. I am still not sure if Alabama is kicking in some money, or if it is only the city of Mobile.

The crowds certainly turned out when the test train ran, though. Unfortunately, the crowds don't spend the money to fund things like this. And Florida is like Texas: car centric. Too bad.
 #1541552  by Tadman
 
As far as I'm aware, it's only Mobile, not the state yet.

Per a discussion elsewhere, some critical success factors include (1) having a tight schedule - the competing interstate is wide open; (2) good timekeeping for the same reason; (3) define the mission of the train.

3 is really important to me - we can't just be adding lines to create a network on a map where one functionally doesn't exist. This train is not here to interline with the Sunset, which runs every third(?) day or the Crescent, which runs almost parallel. This train is either for sending vacationers to the gulf coast or for bringing shipbuilders and their bankers into New Orleans. Or it's a tourist train with a serious face.

Once the mission is clearly defined, schedules can be set based on what those people want. If it's for business people, let's not have it arrive at 1pm and depart an hour later.

Also, this brings back my old question: "Whats so great about NOUPT?" As of right now, it's on the edge of the business district and adjacent to Smoothie Center and Superdome. But it's not really a business person travel tool yet, so that's off the table. No trains pairs arrive/depart for sports games, so that's off the table. It's not walkable to the Quarter, although it's a quick cab ride. It's nowhere near residential areas or the burbs. It's a compromise spot that I think the city really liked in 1950 because it allowed the central spots of SOU, KCS, L&N, and MP to be removed in order to develop more buildings and freeways.

None of this was a real question anybody asked about, because as of today, the New Orleans passenger trains are all long-distance cruisers. Someone coming from Houston on a 9 hour ride that is likely late by another hour or two can afford to sit in a cab for 45 minutes to their final destination. Someone from Metairie or NO East doesn't mind a 45 minute cab ride downtown to ride back through their neighborhood 90 minutes later when they're riding to Chicago or Atlanta.

But when the drive to Mobile can be 2 hours, nobody wants to waste two hours getting to NOUPT, perhaps parking a car, and doing the "Amtrak big station marching game where everybody loses" when they could be already in Mobile by then.

I'll ride the train once to give it a try. But I'm not sure how it's going to make sense when I could be in Mobile having a cocktail at Wintzels or Haberdash while the train passengers are still marching around NOUPT.
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