Mobile to decide key issue on Amtrak future on gulf coast
City leaders are preparing to decide a key issue in restoring passenger train service along the northern Gulf Coast, where Amtrak hasn’t operated regularly since Hurricane Katrina. Council members are scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to commit as much as $3 million over three years to operate Amtrak trains through the city, al.com reported. Katrina badly damaged rail lines in 2005, and Amtrak hasn’t resumed regular east-west service since then. Although Mississippi and Louisiana already have dedicated money toward the project to restart trains, Alabama has been a holdup, partly because officials at Alabama’s main seaport in Mobile worry passenger trains could interfere with freight traffic. Mobile’s commitment of money to match federal funding wouldn’t be needed until 2023, the year service connecting New Orleans to Mobile could restart. The city faces a deadline of Jan. 6 for a decision, with the vote set on New Year’s Eve. “This investment is totally an offset for operational costs,” said Wiley Blankenship, chief executive of the Coastal Alabama Partnership and chairman of the 21-member Southern Rail Commission. “It’s Mobile’s decision to make.” City Council President Levon Manzie said the financial responsibility for the project remains a concern for city officials. But, he said, the “concept of a train service” connecting Mobile to New Orleans remains appealing. He also said the commitments toward operations and capital improvements made in Mississippi and Louisiana are a factor. The New Orleans-to-Mobile route would include four stops in Mississippi: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. “The notion that there would be coastal train service from New Orleans to coastal Mississippi and not include Mobile, I just think that it’s untenable,” Manzie said. “We need to be a part of this service.” Even with a commitment by the city, an additional $2.2 million will be needed from an Alabama-based source to finance capital improvements between the Mississippi line and Mobile. That money would be matched with Alabama’s portion of a $33 million federal grant awarded in June. Also, another $2.5 million could be required to finance the construction of a side track that would connect the main rail line to a future, $3 million train station at the city’s new downtown airport, Brookley Aeroplex. It’s unclear how those investments would be funded. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey hasn’t expressed much interest in backing the project, which Alabama State Docks officials fear could hamper freight service to the port. Alabama remains the lone holdout on dedicating funding for the project. Mississippi has already committed $15 million, and Louisiana has promised $10 million to match federal funding. Both states are also required finance $3 million each on operations. Republished with the Permission of the Associated Press.
Kay Ivey fires Southern Rail commissioner after refusing to fund Mobile Amtrak
“Y’all aboard?” The Southern Rail Commission proverbially asked Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. Her response? Nope. Last week Ivey declined to commit funding to restart the Amtrak coastal connection. Saying that by her analysis, restoring a passenger rail service between Mobile and New Orleans would lead to a detrimental impact to the commercial and freight rail services coming in and out of Mobile. “As we continue to address congestion on our surface transportation systems, both on our highways and rail system, I currently do not plan to provide limited state resources to passenger rail service,” Ivey said in a statement. “We have higher priority opportunities to address congestion on I-10 through the Mobile River Bridge project, expansion of the Port of Mobile and numerous highway projects around the state.” On Monday, Ivey sent a letter to Southern Rail Commission chairman, John Spain saying representative Jerry Gehman would no longer be part of the commission. Gehman has been a vocal supporter of the Amtrak coastal connection, urging Ivey to divert funds to the project, and criticizing her for not meeting with the commission since taking office. “We’ve not had four trains a day between Mobile and New Orleans, passenger trains a day, in our history,” Gehman told WKRG News 5. “It’s not something that’s just a pipe dream, this is three years of significant work.” “I would wish that the Southern Rail Commission have great success in the future,” Gehman told AL.com after news of his termination. “But in the state of Alabama, given the governor’s rejection letter of the passenger rail possibility that existed … and given the tenor of her comments, I don’t see it being a viable option during this governor’s tenure.” Maddox calls out Ivey Gubernatorial candidate Walt Maddox was quick to criticize Ivey for what he called “outdated governing.” “It has become clear to me that, though some economic benefit may be realized by new passenger rail service, such service will have an outsized detrimental impact on other types of rail service,” Maddox said in a statement. “As we continue to address congestion on our surface transportation systems, both on our highways and rail system, I currently do not plan to provide limited state resources to passenger rail service. We have higher priority opportunities to address congestion on I-10 through the Mobile River Bridge project, expansion of the Port of Mobile and numerous highway projects around the state.”
