Amtrak passenger service along the Gulf Coast is on track to return in 2022 — and could come in the early part of next year, a company official said.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari confirmed that timeline on Tuesday, AL.com reported.

Amtrak contacted railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern in January to inform them “that we intend to begin service in 2022,” Magliari said.

On Twitter, Michael Hecht, the president and CEO of economic development group GNO Inc., dubbed the train “The Mardi Gras Express.”

The route will connect Mobile, Alabama, to New Orleans, with four stops in Mississippi: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula.

It will mark the first time that passenger trains have rolled along the Gulf Coast in more than 16 years, AL.com reported.

Amtrak operates out of the Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans. The current routes are:

New Orleans to Chicago on the “City of New Orleans:” Stops include Memphis.
New Orleans to Los Angeles on the “Sunset Limited:” Stops include San Antonio, Tucson and Phoenix.
New Orleans to New York on the “Crescent:” Stops include Atlanta.

View the NOLA.com article here
https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_5e9d4da8-76af-11eb-bd50-c3fe25f1926d.html