When We Were Young
Has there ever been an organization that was not initiated by a few
inspirational leaders with a vision and some spunk? The original membership
of the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission, then the Louisiana-Mississippi-
Alabama Rapid Rail Transit Commission, were individuals with a deep concern
and awareness of passenger rail conditions in the late 1970’s when
commercial air and automobile travel was expanding at an unparalleled rate
while rail service was dwindling. A small group of dedicated individuals
explored “reintroducing” a ride on the rails by leveraging the international
crossroads of Louisiana and the World Exposition held in New Orleans. Thus,
federal legislation created an interstate compact between Louisiana and
Mississippi. Within the year (1982) Alabama joined as well and each state
passed legislation to authorize the compact.
Maturation of an Organization
The Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission has matured as an organization
since its inception. In the early years the commission successfully worked to
provide new rail service. Besides the Mobile to New Orleans World’s Fair route
arrangement SRRTC initiatives produced service between Montgomery and
Mobile from 1989 to 1995 and for a short period rail was reinstituted between
Mobile to New Orleans in 1996-1997.
Seeing the need for more planning and investment for passenger rail, the
Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission put forth an effort in the late 1980’s,
along with numerous public and private parties, to establish a federal program
for high-speed rail planning. The 1991 federal transportation legislation
(ISTEA) brought with it five designated rail corridors in the U.S. However, the
Southern Rapid Rail was not designated as one of the five official rail corridors
and worked tirelessly to gain a designation in the reauthorization bill of 1998.
Funding for planning and feasibility of passenger rail service was available to
SRRTC through the Next Generation High-Speed Rail Corridor Planning
program after the 1998 designation of the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor.
Coming into Our Own
Since 1998 the SRRTC has succeeded in capturing $2.2 million in Next
Generation High Speed Rail funds, a high proportion of the total offered to all
designated rail corridors. Those funds have been appropriated annually to
SRRTC by Congress since 2001 and in turn, we have incrementally moved
forward to complete a full Rail Corridor Plan as recommended by the Federal
Railroad Administration. As segments of our entire designated high-speed
route are analyzed for future riders, train frequencies, and a host of track and
facility upgrades, we continue to seek more funding to complete the planning
effort and to initiate projects identified in the planning phase.
In addition, the commission has pursued and been rewarded with over $4
million in 1103C Grade Crossing Hazard Elimination funds. The SRRTC utilizes
the funds to implement safety improvements at grade-crossings along the Gulf
Coast High Speed Rail Corridor in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Each
member-State has its own grade crossing program, administered through their
respective Departments of Transportation, which has received the benefit of
these funds. Extensive improvements to key grade-crossings have been made
in all three States.
We are working closely with FRA, Amtrak and the railroads whose track we use
today. We continue to expand our expertise, at the individual State
Departments of Transportation and as an organization. Each step of our
history has been a significant achievement towards instituting faster and more
reliable rail passenger service in the southern United States.
What’s next?
Travel patterns and vehicle miles traveled on our nation’s highways are
projected to grow at a rate greater than we can expand the capacity of the
roads. We simply cannot keep up with the growth in traffic. The Southern
Rapid Rail Transit Commission supports federal programs which promote,
cultivate, and fund rail passenger services. A national policy commitment to
work toward a viable national rail system which anticipates congestion crisis
and provides reliable, on-time rail passenger service is needed today. SRRTC
will be working toward achieving that policy goal in its third decade.
Strategic Planning
In late 2002 the SRRTC held a strategic planning session to identify concerns
and set plausible goals. A plan was adopted in March 2003 with four main
strategies. These goals remain top priorities and a degree of success has
occurred on tasks to accomplish each goal.
Support DOT’s
The first strategy was to better support the Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi
State Departments of Transportation through improved organization, invoicing,
reporting and by bringing a passenger rail voice to state transportation
planning efforts.
Gain Visibility
A large need was to gain visibility within each state leveraging Metropolitan
Planning Organizations, City and County organizations, City Councils,
Regional Conference of Mayors, and any media and networking opportunities
that might present themselves.
Enlarge SRRTC to include Texas, Florida and Georgia
Contiguous states are eligible for membership subject to approval of the
member states.
Proactively Pursue Funding and Support for Planning and Projects
This includes an ongoing task to brief our Congressional delegation on a
regular basis. It helps to keep them familiar with SRRTC plans and goals while
providing opportunities to coordinate on related projects of national concern.
Amtrak
The Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission supports full funding for Amtrak.
Only Amtrak operates passenger trains serving Alabama, Louisiana, and
Mississippi residents and businesses. Not only does it provide a needed
service, Amtrak employs over 400 persons in New Orleans alone and is,
therefore, a major employer. Continued funding for Amtrak is necessary for
operation, development and financial support of existing corridor services.
Long distance train service provides interconnectivity among regional
corridors and essential services to communities along the way. A long term
national funding commitment is needed to stabilize passenger rail service and
to build a strong element of the nation’s multimodal transportation system. All
states face fiscal difficulties and are unable to increase their current level of
contributions for intercity passenger rail service at this time.
Host Railroads
The Gulf Coast corridor trains are hosted by five different Class I railroads.
Amtrak’s Crescent travels daily between New Orleans and New York City and
operates over the Norfolk Southern Railway in the corridor. The Sunset
Limited is hosted tri-weekly by CSX Transportation east of New Orleans and
the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe to the west. The City of
New Orleans, operating daily between New Orleans and Chicago (not a
designated route in the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor) uses the
Canadian National-Illinois Central mainline between those respective cities. We
thank our host railroads for their continued support of passenger rail.
Has there ever been an organization that was not initiated by a few
inspirational leaders with a vision and some spunk? The original membership
of the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission, then the Louisiana-Mississippi-
Alabama Rapid Rail Transit Commission, were individuals with a deep concern
and awareness of passenger rail conditions in the late 1970’s when
commercial air and automobile travel was expanding at an unparalleled rate
while rail service was dwindling. A small group of dedicated individuals
explored “reintroducing” a ride on the rails by leveraging the international
crossroads of Louisiana and the World Exposition held in New Orleans. Thus,
federal legislation created an interstate compact between Louisiana and
Mississippi. Within the year (1982) Alabama joined as well and each state
passed legislation to authorize the compact.
Maturation of an Organization
The Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission has matured as an organization
since its inception. In the early years the commission successfully worked to
provide new rail service. Besides the Mobile to New Orleans World’s Fair route
arrangement SRRTC initiatives produced service between Montgomery and
Mobile from 1989 to 1995 and for a short period rail was reinstituted between
Mobile to New Orleans in 1996-1997.
Seeing the need for more planning and investment for passenger rail, the
Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission put forth an effort in the late 1980’s,
along with numerous public and private parties, to establish a federal program
for high-speed rail planning. The 1991 federal transportation legislation
(ISTEA) brought with it five designated rail corridors in the U.S. However, the
Southern Rapid Rail was not designated as one of the five official rail corridors
and worked tirelessly to gain a designation in the reauthorization bill of 1998.
Funding for planning and feasibility of passenger rail service was available to
SRRTC through the Next Generation High-Speed Rail Corridor Planning
program after the 1998 designation of the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor.
Coming into Our Own
Since 1998 the SRRTC has succeeded in capturing $2.2 million in Next
Generation High Speed Rail funds, a high proportion of the total offered to all
designated rail corridors. Those funds have been appropriated annually to
SRRTC by Congress since 2001 and in turn, we have incrementally moved
forward to complete a full Rail Corridor Plan as recommended by the Federal
Railroad Administration. As segments of our entire designated high-speed
route are analyzed for future riders, train frequencies, and a host of track and
facility upgrades, we continue to seek more funding to complete the planning
effort and to initiate projects identified in the planning phase.
In addition, the commission has pursued and been rewarded with over $4
million in 1103C Grade Crossing Hazard Elimination funds. The SRRTC utilizes
the funds to implement safety improvements at grade-crossings along the Gulf
Coast High Speed Rail Corridor in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Each
member-State has its own grade crossing program, administered through their
respective Departments of Transportation, which has received the benefit of
these funds. Extensive improvements to key grade-crossings have been made
in all three States.
We are working closely with FRA, Amtrak and the railroads whose track we use
today. We continue to expand our expertise, at the individual State
Departments of Transportation and as an organization. Each step of our
history has been a significant achievement towards instituting faster and more
reliable rail passenger service in the southern United States.
What’s next?
Travel patterns and vehicle miles traveled on our nation’s highways are
projected to grow at a rate greater than we can expand the capacity of the
roads. We simply cannot keep up with the growth in traffic. The Southern
Rapid Rail Transit Commission supports federal programs which promote,
cultivate, and fund rail passenger services. A national policy commitment to
work toward a viable national rail system which anticipates congestion crisis
and provides reliable, on-time rail passenger service is needed today. SRRTC
will be working toward achieving that policy goal in its third decade.
Strategic Planning
In late 2002 the SRRTC held a strategic planning session to identify concerns
and set plausible goals. A plan was adopted in March 2003 with four main
strategies. These goals remain top priorities and a degree of success has
occurred on tasks to accomplish each goal.
Support DOT’s
The first strategy was to better support the Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi
State Departments of Transportation through improved organization, invoicing,
reporting and by bringing a passenger rail voice to state transportation
planning efforts.
Gain Visibility
A large need was to gain visibility within each state leveraging Metropolitan
Planning Organizations, City and County organizations, City Councils,
Regional Conference of Mayors, and any media and networking opportunities
that might present themselves.
Enlarge SRRTC to include Texas, Florida and Georgia
Contiguous states are eligible for membership subject to approval of the
member states.
Proactively Pursue Funding and Support for Planning and Projects
This includes an ongoing task to brief our Congressional delegation on a
regular basis. It helps to keep them familiar with SRRTC plans and goals while
providing opportunities to coordinate on related projects of national concern.
Amtrak
The Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission supports full funding for Amtrak.
Only Amtrak operates passenger trains serving Alabama, Louisiana, and
Mississippi residents and businesses. Not only does it provide a needed
service, Amtrak employs over 400 persons in New Orleans alone and is,
therefore, a major employer. Continued funding for Amtrak is necessary for
operation, development and financial support of existing corridor services.
Long distance train service provides interconnectivity among regional
corridors and essential services to communities along the way. A long term
national funding commitment is needed to stabilize passenger rail service and
to build a strong element of the nation’s multimodal transportation system. All
states face fiscal difficulties and are unable to increase their current level of
contributions for intercity passenger rail service at this time.
Host Railroads
The Gulf Coast corridor trains are hosted by five different Class I railroads.
Amtrak’s Crescent travels daily between New Orleans and New York City and
operates over the Norfolk Southern Railway in the corridor. The Sunset
Limited is hosted tri-weekly by CSX Transportation east of New Orleans and
the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe to the west. The City of
New Orleans, operating daily between New Orleans and Chicago (not a
designated route in the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor) uses the
Canadian National-Illinois Central mainline between those respective cities. We
thank our host railroads for their continued support of passenger rail.
About Us
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