Amtrak is a step closer to resuming passenger train service between Mobile and New Orleans. Those passenger trains are running again between Mobile and New Orleans. They’re not carrying customers yet. These runs are training crews for the restoration of service planned for later this year. As soon as training runs between Mobile and New Orleans started a few days ago, Amtrak crews noticed a problem. People along the line were not ready for the faster trains.
“I'll tell you that in just the first day and a half, our crews have reported five, that's five close calls with people doing the wrong things on the tracks, so an education effort is pretty well timed, I'm afraid,” said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman. “Five occasions in the first day and a half is pretty worrisome.”
Magliari says Amtrak is starting an education program to prepare Gulf Coast residents for the return of the passenger liners.
“As excited as we are about service starting, and we are, we want to start educating the people about safety along the railroad track. Having trains on these tracks isn't new. Having our trains on these tracks is new. Our trains are smaller, lighter, faster, but even though with those features, they can't stop short of someone who's doing the wrong thing on the tracks. Our freight trains can't and we certainly can't and our mission today is talking about safety education.”
On the subject of the current “shakedown” runs for Amtrak trains…
“Our crews have to be qualified. They have to know the physical characteristics of the route before they can begin service, so we've begun the process of training groups,” said Magliari. He says passenger trains haven’t run this route since 2005, so crews have to become acquainted with the tracks again.
“They have to know what the operating conditions are,” he said. “They have to be familiar with where the signals, where the platforms are so we can stop our trains in the right places and just learn the physical characteristics. That's a federal requirement. That's also an internal Amtrak requirement.”
Magliari said the training runs are getting a warm welcome along the line.
“From the looks of the people who were coming up to us today, people out with cameras just trying to get this little itty-bitty train, there's a lot of interest,” he observed.
Amtrak service is scheduled to resume by the end of 2023.
