Following is a copy of the Sun Herald Business report of the Southern Rail Commission quarterly meeting this morning. Amtrak is working hard to restore passenger train service between New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Mobile later this year, officials said Friday. "Looking forward to successes and ribbon cuttings", Nicole Bucich, Amtrak vice president of network development, said at the quarterly meeting of the Southern Rail Commission in Bay St. Louis. Crews are running test trains along the corridor, Many tasks are going on at the same time. One of the preparations is deciding what food should be served on the trains, she said. Amtrak is working with the states and taking suggestions to make the food service their own in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The idea is for passengers to experience the Gulf Coast when they get on the train. How passengers are perceived when they get off also will be important, the commission said. Trains will stop at Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula in Mississippi. The commissioners commented on how many people attended Friday’s meeting and the enthusiasm that continues for the start of Amtrak service. Much ado about nothing, except Amtrak apparently is planning to have a lounge car, possibly a diner on this 1-1/2 to 2 hour train end-to-end.
As a follow-up, and my opinion only. Referring to her "food service" comment, Amtrak has lost sight of providing consistently reliable transportation to the masses of people who are sick and tired of airline insults and of driving long distances. Instead, Amtrak's current goal appears to be providing competition to domestic cruise companies that offer tours through rivers and mountains across our country. Amtrak, your mission was to provide a public service to the traveling public. Stop trying to be something in which you can never compete!!!!!
Considering that the Capitol Limited is being operated with three passenger cars and a baggage car - is the Gulf operation going to be more than a single car?
The Gulf Coast Limited was reestablished in the mid-1990's between NOLA and Mobile. It began with two coaches in August. It increased to five coaches in December due to Christmas festivities in NOLA. CSX closed the line between Christmas and New Year for maintenance of the Rigolets Pass bridge with no public announcement. Amtrak restarted the run immediately after with five coaches. Sadly, there was minimum ridership because the public had not been informed of the closure. Amtrak annulled the Gulf Breeze in March with about five passengers in one coach because of "fool me once, shame on you.....!".
The latest on the restored Gulf Coast Amtrak service, now will be called the Mardi Gras Express. Being named Mardi Gras, hope it has a bar car.
mmi16, thanks for your memory. You might be interested in the following history/timeline of the Gulf Wind. https://www.american-rails.com/gulf...s certainly,systems synonymous with the South.
With the run being a overnight train, dinner on the diner was a requirement. As I recall, the diner was a L&N car with Tavern in the name. With its ride quality, I named it 'Square Wheels Tavern' in my mind. Recall that the train was combined with another L&N train (Pan-American sticks in my mind) and the trains got split at Flomaton, AL. Little did I ever think at the time that during my career New Orleans to Jacksonville would be a part the territories I was responsible for when working for CSX. Pardon the poor quality of the photos.
I think it will be supported. Carnival just signed a five-year contract to home-port a weekly cruise ship in Mobile. The casinos in Biloxi and Gulfport are a big draw. Both cities are stops with short cab rides to casinos. And driving into New Orleans has become unbearable.
