future looking brighter for desperately needed passenger rail services in the South

[butters]

Amtrak will restore service to the Gulf Coast for the first time in almost 20 years as part of a nearly $200 million grant the rail company received from the federal government.

The plan, called the Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement Project, will aim to re-establish twice-daily service between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans next year, according to Amtrak. The project will redevelop part of the rail line that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The project, which is run in cooperation with the Southern Rail Commission, will be completed with money from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program with additional funding from several stakeholders, including Amtrak and the states of Mississippi and Louisiana.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...&cvid=e08368fba1224aa9ef55b028a15364a8&ei=185

i suppose this could have gone in the Thanks, President Biden thread but here will do

also, things are looking up in TN for an extension and rejuvenation of passenger rail:
https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/tn-potential-passenger-rail-locations-update/

“Amtrak wants to be in Tennessee. They want to be here,” Clemmons said. “All we have to do is take ‘yes’ for an answer, and the money’s going to come.”

“The south is behind. The state has a lot to do with it and getting involved. We hope that we’ve gotten the state’s interest, and I think they’ve expressed an interest,” U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) said. “In November or December, we might know more about where the federal government thinks these routes should go.”

there's an awful lot of support for increased rail in TN, but it'll mean sorting something out with CSX, a freight rail company that owns most of the rail tracks in TN. There has to be a solution. It might also be a great time to invest in Amtrack AND CSX.

Though the department may have its hand forced after a state advisory commission recommended bringing the mode of transportation inside state lines.

“My conversations are, they’re hemming and hawing,” Clemmons said. “They don’t want to take on CSX. They see CSX as a political liability.”

CSX is a freight rail company that owns the majority of tracks in Tennessee. For passenger rail to work, the company has to play ball.

 

[butters]

more here:

https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee...oward-passenger-rail-future/?ipid=inline-link

 

[dkovic77]

The south has a legacy of being behind when it comes to rail transportation. Couldn’t even get the same gauge of track back during the “war of northern aggression.”

Still losers!