The plan to restore AMTRAK rail service from Mobile to New Orleans may be in trouble. City Council members in Alabama’s Port City now appear to be wavering in their support for resuming passenger rail service to New Orleans. The long-term plan is to run trains between Mobile and New Orleans with four stops in Mississippi. That depends on support from all three States.
Not everyone is on board with the idea, which would restore passenger service to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana for the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Amtrak's long-term plan is for trains to run from a station near the convention center in Mobile, Alabama, to New Orleans, with four stops in Mississippi, WALA-TV reported. But much of Alabama's funding for the plan relies on the city of Mobile — and support among city council members there is wavering.
The plan depends on subsidies from governments in all three states, WALA reported. Much of the funding in Alabama would come from the city of Mobile, but five of the seven council members must approve it. Mobile City Councilman Josh Woods said Tuesday that he doesn't support the current proposal, and city council member Ben Reynolds has also said he'd vote no on the funding plan. A third city council member, Joel Daves, has been a critic of Amtrak funding.
APR news has reported extensively on the effort to restore AMTRAK to the Gulf coast. Click below to listen again.
