Easter is over, but Mardi Gras is coming to New Orleans, Mobile, and four towns between them on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This “Mardi Gras” will be an Amtrak train, and it will run twice a day in both directions, all year round!
Amtrak announced the name for its new Gulf Coast service on April 24. It’s a fitting name for the new trains, symbolizing the parties held during the winter Carnival season in New Orleans (the biggest festival), Mobile (since 1703) and Biloxi (since 1720), all places the trains will serve.
Amtrak did not announce when the trains will start running, but did say that the announcement will be made “in a few weeks.” According to a local news report (video below). July is anticipated.
The new trains are finally coming to the Gulf Coast after a three-year struggle, including an 11-day trial before the Surface Transportation Board which we dubbed the “Second Battle of Mobile” (the original fight took place in 1862, during the American Civil War). Eventually CSX, Norfolk Southern, Amtrak and the Port of Mobile settled their dispute and came to an agreement. The necessary approvals and construction of a new station and station/layup track in Mobile followed, along with getting the Mississippi stations ready for their return to service.
After such a long battle, which Railway Age covered in its entirety, it seems like the time is coming to celebrate, and the trains will bear the name of the biggest celebration in the region, with its worldwide reputation.
In announcing the new service, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said: “Agreements have been reached for new twice-daily Amtrak intercity train service along the Mississippi Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. Starting this summer, the new state-sponsored Amtrak Mardi Gras Service will offer convenient morning and evening departures from both cities.”
The announcement quoted Amtrak President Roger Harris: “Travel should be about more than just getting somewhere. Our goal is to have some of that festive Mardi Gras feeling on every trip, sharing the culture of the Gulf Coast region while connecting with the rest of the Amtrak network. This summer, travelers seeking a more comfortable, scenic and productive choice than driving will have their first opportunity to ride Amtrak trains in almost 20 years.”
Pre-Amtrak service along the Gulf Coast went beyond the new service area to Jacksonville, Fla. until 1971, on a tri-weekly basis during its final months. Amtrak restored tri-weekly service as a Gulf Coast extension of the Sunset Limited to the Orlando area starting in 1993 and briefly to Miami. That extension ended when Hurricane Katrina roared through New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005. When other Amtrak trains serving New Orleans were restored after the storm, service along the Gulf Coast was not.
Louisiana and Mississippi supported the return of Mobile service, with Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker giving it perhaps the strongest support of any elected official. The trains will stop at four places in the Magnolia State: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula. The State of Alabama did not support it, but the City of Mobile did, and the Port of Mobile also eventually got on board.
The Southern Rail Commission was a major player in the effort to get the restored service going. Chairman Knox Ross said: “It’s incredibly exciting to announce the name for this new service that will have such a positive impact on our three states. The service will open the Mississippi Gulf Coast to a whole new tourism market, making already wonderful places even better by supporting local businesses, attracting more visitors and strengthening the entire Southern region’s infrastructure and economy.”
It was a long, hard struggle to get the new state-supported route approved, as we noted throughout our coverage of the effort. There should be a celebration coming soon, though. For the first time since the Downeaster trains started running in 2001, Amtrak is restoring service on a route that has not hosted scheduled passenger trains for decades. Such an event does seem to call for a Mardi-Gras-style celebration, and it won’t even be necessary to wait until March 4, 2026, when the annual “Fat Tuesday” comes around again.
