An Alabama mayor says a railroad is opposing a proposed site for a new Amtrak station, citing safety concerns.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox tells The Tuscaloosa News that negotiations with Norfolk Southern Railway have broken down.
The city has $1.8 million earmarked for a new station for Amtrak’s Crescent, which has daily trains going south to New Orleans and north to New York.
Tuscaloosa was eyeing a location at a demolished shopping center.
Maddox says Norfolk Southern cited hard-to-fix concerns about sight distance.
The mayor says he’ll now ask the Southern Rail Commission for permission to divert a $315,000 grant to improvements at the current station.
Maddox says he fears Tuscaloosa will lose its stop without a new station.
The railroad didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
