Plans to resume passenger train service on the northern Gulf Coast for the first time since Hurricane Katrina has suffered a setback with Alabama and Mississippi refusing money for the project, but a leader of the effort said Friday the project isn’t dead.
The Associated Press reports Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi needed to pledge almost $35 million total over three years by Thursday to be eligible for the same amount in federal funds to get Amtrak trains running from New Orleans eastward to Mobile, Alabama.
Neither Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey nor Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant agreed to the deal, although Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards committed to spending as much as $8 million, saying passenger rail would provide “tremendous benefits” to the region.
Knox Ross, vice chair of the Southern Rail Commission, said the refusal by Alabama and Mississippi makes the project more difficult but doesn’t kill the plan.
“I think we just take a look at what the problems were and try to respond to them so we can move forward,” he said.
Amtrak suspended service east of New Orleans after Katrina caused heavy damage in 2006. Advocates see the resumption of New Orleans-to-Mobile trains as a major step toward expanding passenger trains elsewhere in the region.
