The long-fought conflict between Amtrak on one side and CSX, Norfolk Southern and the Port of Mobile on the other has ended. The final move on Amtrak’s part was to move to dismiss, with prejudice, at the Surface Transportation Board its original Application that began the saga of its efforts to secure two round trips per day between New Orleans and Mobile along the Gulf Coast (download below).
The actual request from Amtrak: “Amtrak hereby moves to dismiss with prejudice Amtrak’s application for an order pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 24308(e) requiring CSX and NS to allow Amtrak to provide for the operation of additional intercity passenger trains over the rail lines of CSX and NS between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama on the schedules requested by Amtrak. Amtrak is authorized to state that CSX, NS, and the Port do not oppose this motion.” So, with Amtrak’s former adversaries in the matter agreeing to the final dismissal of Amtrak’s original request, it appears that the Board will be out of the picture as soon as it approves the motion.
Amtrak said the original application was filed on March 16, 2021 and then recited some of the procedural history before the Board during the past 3½ years. Amtrak then stated: “Amtrak is pleased to report that as of Oct. 22, 2024, the conditions necessary to resolve this matter pursuant to the Parties’ settlement agreement have been satisfied such that Amtrak hereby moves to dismiss its application with prejudice and close these proceedings. Amtrak wishes to express its appreciation to the Board for its time and attention to this matter. With the assistance of the Board, intercity passenger rail service between Mobile and New Orleans soon will be restored. To that end, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on Oct.22, 2024, for the Mobile Station passenger platform and layover track, which is the only infrastructure project that is required to be completed before intercity passenger rail service can resume. As the Parties previously reported to the Board, the Parties also are continuing to work together on the implementation of the additional infrastructure projects included in the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant awarded to Amtrak for the Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement Project, although these projects are not required to be completed prior to the start of intercity passenger rail service. The CRISI Grant Agreement between Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) was fully executed on Oct. 22, 2024, thus fulfilling the last of the settlement agreement’s conditions precedent to dismissal.”
The groundbreaking ceremony to which Amtrak referred was reported on Oct. 23 in a press release issued by USDOT: “Yesterday, Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose and representatives from Amtrak, the Southern Rail Commission, and other local leaders for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement project, which will restore passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast.” There is still more to be done, as the release also noted: “Once the layover track and platform are completed, Amtrak will resume passenger service between Mobile and New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005. The Biden-Harris Administration awarded the project $178 million through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.” The document also included a transcript of Buttigieg’s remarks at the event.
What’s next?
When he spoke directly about the Mobile project, Buttigieg said, “We’re going to upgrade tracks and signals to help minimize delays. Station improvements will provide a comfortable place for passengers to wait while shielding them from the elements. New grade crossings will make it safer for vehicles to cross where roads intersect with those train tracks. And of course, most exciting for all, there will soon be two new roundtrips a day running between Mobile and New Orleans.”
So, there is more to be done, although it is now apparent that all of the parties are willing to work together to get it done. While not a party to the agreement, the Mobile City Council is also cooperating, as we reported. For a while, it appeared the Council could stop the project, because only four of the seven members supported it, and it takes a 5-2 vote approve Council matters, but the Council voted to build the station and layup track that will be needed for the operation.
Was the request for dismissal premature? That is always a question in legal proceedings, especially ones that went to litigation. The present case was a hard-fought one, as we have reported through the years. The parties have been filing status reports with the STB on a regular basis, which keeps the Board informed and keeps its jurisdiction in effect. If a problem were to arise between now and the time the first train starts running, it might be more difficult to settle that problem without the Board’s participation than with it. Nonetheless, the parties seem amicable at this time, and they appear prepared to work together to finish the project and get the trains running. Nobody has yet come up with an anticipated opening date, although it still looks like everybody is shooting for service to start next year, possibly in the spring. By then it will have been almost 20 years since Hurricane Katrina struck and the last scheduled passenger train stopped at Mobile and the towns along the Mississippi Gulf Coast on their way east from New Orleans. Many of us continue to look forward to taking that “first ride” on the new Amtrak Gulf Coast service, and we all hope it will happen soon. Amtrak appears to have demonstrated its faith that it will.
