Money for station upgrades awarded for Gulf Coast train plan
Three Mississippi cities and Birmingham, Alabama have been awarded grants to improve their train stations ahead of the planned return of Amtrak service to the Gulf Coast. Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, and Pascagoula received a little more than $700,000 total, and another $250,000 went to Birmingham, the Biloxi Sun Herald reported. The newspaper said the grants were announced on Monday by the Southern Rail Commission. The money will fund improvements to amenities such as lighting, sidewalks, and parking areas. The grants require an equivalent matching contribution from local officials. Amtrak hopes to resume operating between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama in January. The region has been without passenger service since Hurricane Katrina badly damaged tracks and equipment in 2005. Before that, passenger trains ran between the two cities three times a week. The start of service is still pending a decision by the federal Surface Transportation Board on Amtrak’s right of access to freight lines. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Mobile plans for train station, despite Kay Ivey’s Amtrak snub
Despite Gov. Kay Ivey’s recent decline to commit funding to restart the Amtrak passenger train service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., the Port City is moving ahead with its own plans to build a new train station. Two weeks ago, Ivey balked at funding for restored coastal Amtrak service, saying 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.” But on Tuesday, Mobile city officials made clear their differing opinion, announcing their own plans to move ahead with a train station. According to AL.com, the Mobile City Council voiced it’s plans to approve a $233,000 contract with global engineering, management and development consultancy Mott MacDonald to design a train station to replace the one destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. The vote for approval is expected to be made next week. A grant via the Southern Rail Commission would fund the contract.
Kay Ivey has literally left the building in an effort to dodge the press
After coming under fire from local officials and her Democratic gubernatorial opponent Walt Maddox over her refusal to direct state funds to Mobile to restart the Amtrak Coastal Connection, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has seemingly doubled down on her campaign strategy of dodge and deflect. On Friday, Ivey was in Mobile, Ala. speaking to the Distinguished Young Women’s group, when a local news station covering the event asked her a question. Ivey not only refused to answer, but she proceeded to walk through the conference room, exit the building, and leave town. WPMI reported they were seeking answers to stories that affect not only Mobile, but the state as a whole. Apparently, they planned to ask her about the removal of Southern Rail Commissioner Jerry Gehman, the immigration issue in Baldwin County, and why she thinks Alabama could lose 4,000 jobs due to the Trump Administration’s new tariffs. It appears the Governor is much more comfortable in prepared statements and campaign ads, than speaking directly to the press. Nothing new under the sun In all reality, Ivey’s deflect and dodge strategy shouldn’t be all that surprising as it’s what we’ve seen from her in campaign mode for months now. Her Republican primary opponents challenged the governor to debates several times during the primary election cycle, calling on her to show up, and discuss her ideas. She declined all offers, saying that as the current Governor her schedule was too full to fulfill their requests. Her Democratic opponent Maddox has also pressed Ivey to debate, but it remains to be seen whether or not she will ignore his request. Alabama Today specifically has had problems in the past securing information from her office, and in comparison to former governor Robert Bentley‘s press office it’s easy to see the difference. Earlier this year Alabama Today Publisher Apryl Marie Fogel went over the challenges and changes inside the governor’s press operations citing a request for a list of the governor’s appointments since she took office, and a list of top agency heads she had replaced from the Bentley administration. Alabama Today made the request on January 4, and finally received and answer on January 23, with only half of the information that was requested. Under the Bentley administration, similar requests were answered within 24 hours.
Alabama balks at funding for restored coastal Amtrak service
Alabama is balking at pledging millions of dollars to help restart passenger train service along the northern Gulf Coast for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi must commit almost $35 million altogether over three years by Thursday to be eligible for the same amount in federal funds that would enable Amtrak trains to run from New Orleans eastward to Mobile, Alabama. Louisiana has agreed to supply about $9.5 million, while Mississippi agreed to $3 million and is considering much more, said Knox Ross of the Southern Rail Commission, which is promoting the project. But Alabama hasn’t promised any money toward the project, he said, and time is running out. “If we don’t do it we’ve left money on the table, which would be very unfortunate,” said Ross. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s office issued a statement saying she supports efforts to restore passenger rail service on the coast but isn’t committing state funding. An Alabama representative on the Southern Rail Commission, Jerry Gehman, said Ivey’s words don’t do anything to move the project forward. “That’s good for the ink and paper it’s written on. But it does nothing … to make it a reality,” said Gehman. Amtrak suspended service east of New Orleans along the Gulf Coast after Katrina, which heavily damaged rails, crossings and other infrastructure in 2006. Ross said the current effort is the most serious one yet to revive passenger rail in the region. Supporters see the New Orleans-to-Mobile proposal as a first step toward expanding Amtrak service elsewhere on the coast, Ross said. The proposed train would run twice a day each way, stopping at cities on the Mississippi coast, he said. Mississippi’s costs for the project are higher than those of the other states because “that’s where the tracks are,” he said. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is considering a request for $14.7 million over three years for capital costs, but a spokesman said no decision has been made. The project can move forward if Alabama doesn’t contribute, Ross said, and actual costs could be less. The eastbound train would simply stop at Pascagoula, Mississippi, rather than continuing into Alabama, he said. “If we get Mississippi to commit we can move forward without Alabama,” said Ross. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
