In June of 1982, the 97th Congress of the United States adopted Public Law
97-213: An Act granting the consent of the Congress to an interstate
compact between the States of Mississippi and Louisiana, establishing a
commission to study the feasibility of rapid rail transit service between two
states.
The legislatures of Louisiana and Mississippi had previously enacted
legislation establishing the compact, pending Congressional approval, and
stipulating that any state not mentioned in this article which is contiguous to
any member state may become a party to this compact, subject to approval
by the legislature of each of the member states. One month prior to
passage of the law authorizing the interstate compact, the Alabama
Legislature had taken the action necessary to secure membership. Once
the act was adopted, The Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Rapid Rail
Transit Commission (now Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission) was
born.
On August 23, 1982, the new tri-state commission held its first meeting in
Slidell, Louisiana and adopted a resolution authorizing its newly elected
chairman to seek Federal and other funding sources for a proposed
passenger rail feasibility study. An application for Federal Discretionary
Funds was duly prepared and submitted to the Secretary of the United
States Department of Transportation. Once this funding was secured, a
feasibility study for proposed commuter rail service linking New Orleans to
three potential termini: Baton Rouge, Slidell and Mobile.
Ridership projections were developed for both commuter work-trips and
trips to the Louisiana World Exposition scheduled to take place in New
Orleans from May 12 through November 11, 1984. Further, the study
identified required capital improvements-including construction or renovation
of passenger stations, track maintenance, safety issues and service
facilities.
Based on the results of this study effort, the decision was made to pursue
the implementation of daily round trip passenger service on the Seaboard
System Railroad (formerly Louisville & Nashville, currently CSX
Transportation), linking Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana via
the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The commission entered into a section 403(b)
shared-subsidy operating agreement with the National Rail Passenger
Corporation (Amtrak), thus initiating Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Limited.
The inaugural run took place on April 28, 1984 with regular service
beginning on April 29. Regularly scheduled stops were made at five station
locations with the train originating in Mobile, Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport,
Waveland, New Orleans East and terminating in New Orleans Union
Passenger Terminal. The westbound (southbound) train #23 departed
Mobile at 7:00 a.m. and arrived in New Orleans at 10:40 a.m., with the
eastbound (northbound) train #24 departing New Orleans at 6:30 p.m. and
arriving back in Mobile at 10:00 p.m.
Ridership on the trains far exceeded Amtrak’s projection of 23 passenger-
miles per train-mile. During the five-month period of the World’s Fair in New
Orleans, the train carried an average of 229 passengers a day. Responses
to a week long on-board passenger survey undertaken by the rail
commission in September of 1984 indicated approximately 56% of all riders
were traveling to or from the fair. An earlier survey conducted by Amtrak in
June had resulted in estimated fair-related ridership of 76%. The rail
commission survey also revealed that 95% of all passengers were traveling
to or from New Orleans with approximately half coming from Mobile.
Although Amtrak had only required state funding sufficient to cover operating
expenses during the period of the Louisiana World Exposition, when the fair
closed on November 11, 1984, there was still adequate funding available to
keep the trains running for nearly two more months. The States of Alabama
and Louisiana each pledged a one-third share of matching funds required to
keep the trains running. However, the State of Mississippi declined to renew
its support resulting in the termination of trains #23 and #24, the Gulf Coast
Limited on January 6, 1985.
The next 4 ½ years were a period of prolonged frustration for the members
of the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Rapid Rail Transit Commission. First
in an effort to restore rail passenger service in the central Gulf Coast
corridor, the commission attempted to convince Amtrak officials that the
Sunset Limited, which ran tri-weekly between Los Angeles and New Orleans
should be extended from New Orleans east to Jacksonville. Inclusion of this
“missing link” in the national rail passenger system and would have created
the first transcontinental passenger train. While Amtrak officials undertook a
route evaluation, they ultimately decided against the extended Sunset
Limited route into Florida.
In 1986 the City of New Orleans granted funds to the SRRTC to conduct a
feasibility study for proposed commuter rail service between New Orleans
and the Mississippi Gulf Coast and between New Orleans and Baton
Rouge. The resulting New Orleans Regional Rail Transit Program identified
alternative alignments and operating scenarios for high-speed light-rail
service in New Orleans and for commuter operations linking the city to points
east and west.
In the fall of 1987, the SRRTC undertook a survey of 1,800 households on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast in an effort to locate commuters who worked in
the New Orleans area. The survey results were used to estimate the number
of potential rail patrons living on the coast and to project commuter rail
service ridership. A follow-up contractual study effort, performed by Burk
and Associates in 1989 developed an operational plan for rail passenger
service oriented to the needs of Mississippi Gulf Coast residents working in
the New Orleans area.
Separate demand estimates were made for work and other trip purposes,
including trips related to the initial gambling activity on the coast, a “cruise to
nowhere” gaming ship sailing daily from the Mississippi State Port in
Gulfport. The recommended plan included a schedule of operations,
designated stop locations, suggested fare schedule and proposed ancillary
facilities and services.
Rebuffed in their efforts to restore rail passenger service to the Gulf Coast,
commission members turned their attention to the Sunbelt Corridor (I-20
Corridor) crossing north Louisiana, central Mississippi and central
Alabama. A formal proposal for service linking Dallas, Texas and Atlanta,
Georgia via Shreveport, Monroe, Vicksburg, Jackson, Meridian, Tuscaloosa
and Birmingham was submitted to the National Rail Passenger
Corporation. The proposed route would have originated in New York City as
a run through addition to the already existing daily Amtrak trains #19 and
#20, the Crescent with the train being split in Meridian, Mississippi. Half of
the train would have continued on its current route to New Orleans and the
other portion traveling to Dallas, Texas over the Kansas City Southern.
Amtrak officials responded favorably to the proposal and conducted a route
evaluation that indicated the Kansas City Southern (formerly Illinois Central)
tracks along the proposed new route were in good condition. Enthusiastic
crowds along the entire route greeted the test train occupied by Amtrak and
SRRTC officials. The key to implementing this service was contingent on
acquiring a mail contract from the United States Postal Service to carry
mail. However, the subsequent failure to secure that contract doomed the
proposed “Crescent Star”.
Another evaluation was conducted by Amtrak for proposed rail passenger
service connecting New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport along the old
route of the Southern Belle operated by Kansas City Southern prior to the
inception of Amtrak. However, the findings resulted in poor track along
some portions of the proposed route, especially between New Orleans and
Baton Rouge. This would have substantial rehabilitation costs in upgrading
the track to accommodate passenger train service. Given the very high
projected capital costs associated with this proposal route, it was not given
further consideration.
In 1989 the commission set out again to initiate rail passenger service on
another route. This time the focus was on a section of the former Louisville
and Nashville Humming Bird route from Birmingham- Montgomery-Mobile.
New rail passenger service was established with a 403(b) Amtrak Train.
The Alabama contingent of commissioners, acting as the Alabama Rail
Transit Commission, succeeded in securing an agreement with the National
Rail Passenger Corporation to split the southbound Amtrak Train #19, The
Crescent at Birmingham. The portion taken off would then travel south over
the CSX Transportation line to Mobile via Montgomery. The northbound
train would then be merged back into Train #19 the northbound Crescent in
Birmingham continuing on to New York City. On October 27, 1989 Amtrak
Train #819 the Gulf Breeze made its inaugural run to Mobile, Alabama from
Birmingham with regularly scheduled daily service beginning October 30th
with the northbound train #820 from Mobile. Amtrak once again served
Mobile after a nearly five-year drought.
In just six years the commission was already successful in being heavily
involved with the start up of two new daily passenger trains in the tri-state
area. However, there was more much more to come. While the focus on
different routes in the area seemed to change, the Gulf Coast Corridor was
never abandoned. After several years, efforts to restore rail passenger
service to the Gulf Coast finally paid off with the extension of the Amtrak
Sunset Limited.
On March 31, 1993, Amtrak’s Sunset Limited made the first of a three day
inaugural run from New Orleans, across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, southern
Alabama, Florida Panhandle to Jacksonville and continued into Miami.
Regularly scheduled tri-weekly service began on April 3rd between Los
Angeles, California and Miami, Florida. It created several advantages for
the region. It gave Amtrak its first transcontinental passenger train thus
connecting the “missing link”, it restored rail passenger service to the Gulf
Coast for the first time since 1985, it added additional Amtrak service to
south Alabama and Mobile on top of the Gulf Breeze service, it added
through rail passenger service across the Florida panhandle for the first time
since 1971 and it added an additional fourth Amtrak train into the State of
Florida.
Even after the Sunset Limited extension took place the SRRTC continued to
lobby for daily passenger service across the Gulf Coast between New
Orleans and Mobile. Dockside gambling had entered south Mississippi and
was estimated to attract 10-12 million visitors a year, more people than had
attended the Louisiana World Exposition in 1984 when the Gulf Coast
Limited was in operation. Traffic counts on U.S. Highway 90 showed the
volume of traffic on this major artery running along the Mississippi Gulf Coast
had increased 25-30% over the first two years that dockside gaming had
been in place. Gaming was also introduced in Louisiana a short time after
Mississippi opened the gaming doors. With all of this additional traffic,
demand for travel within and to this region had greatly expanded since 1984.
Implicitly recognizing this potential, Amtrak undertook a new evaluation of the
proposed service in late 1993. This evaluation generated two possible
operating scenarios. One would use equipment for the Gulf Breeze; the
other would utilize the City of New Orleans equipment. The Gulf Breeze
extension would make the westbound (southbound) trip, from Mobile to New
Orleans, at night and the eastbound (northbound) trip to Mobile early in the
morning.
The other scenario would allow for the selected equipment from the City of
New Orleans to travel on a similar schedule to the original Gulf Coast
Limited. This would allow for a New Orleans to Mobile trip in the evening
and a return trip back to New Orleans in the morning. Operating expenses
and revenues were projected for both of these alternatives since both trains
had overnight layover equipment in New Orleans and Mobile. However,
Amtrak officials contended they had no available funds to support the
proposed new service, even on a shared-subsidy basis, despite the fact that
Congress included language in the Fiscal Year 1993 authorizing legislation
for the National Rail Passenger Corporation directing it to initiate service
between New Orleans and Mobile. A clause included in the legislation
directed Amtrak to provide such new service where equipment was
available and sufficient state and local funds were provided to cover
anticipated operating deficits. The SRRTC had previously secured the
commitment of funds sufficient to cover the projected states share under a
403(b) shared-subsidy arrangement.
In 1995, due to recent senior management changes and facing major cuts
from Congress, Amtrak implemented major service changes that included
terminating trains such as the Gulf Breeze. While this was a 403(b) train,
Amtrak opted to terminate this service beyond the normal Crescent service.
The only option to continue this service was for the State of Alabama to
continue the funding at the same level and have the service cut back to tri-
weekly, matching the new Crescent Schedule south of Atlanta, Georgia. On
March 31, 1995 the last Gulf Breeze, train #820 departed Mobile for New
York City. While Mobile was still served by the Sunset Limited, it lost its
service north to Montgomery, Birmingham and points beyond.
In 1991 the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) was
adopted by Congress. Over the course of the next two years ISTEA
identified five emerging high-speed rail corridors in addition to the existing
Northeast Corridor. In 1995, members of the Southern Rapid Rail Transit
Commission initiated efforts to secure designation of what was originally
called the Deep South High Speed Rail Corridor. When the Transportation
Equity Act reauthorized federal transportation programs for the 21st Century
(TEA-21) in 1998, the legislation included language granting formal
recognition to the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor.
The corridor had originally been conceived to include only the existing
Sunset Limited route across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, with the
logical termini in Houston, Texas and Pensacola or Jacksonville, Florida at
the other end. It was subsequently modified to include another essential link
in the emerging national high-speed rail network: The current Crescent route
from New Orleans to Atlanta via Hattiesburg, Meridian, Tuscaloosa and
Birmingham.
After the loss of the Gulf Breeze in 1995, the SRRTC continued its long
quest for daily passenger service across the Gulf Coast to Mobile. Finally,
after 10 1/2 years of continued effort, the Gulf Coast Limited was brought
back into service on an experimental basis. This was originally planned for
a 90-day trial run. On June 27, 1996, the Gulf Coast Limited made its
second inaugural run to and from Mobile. On June 28th trains #23 and #24
were back in daily service. The schedule allowed for a morning run from
Mobile to New Orleans with an evening return trip back to Mobile. Three
trains a day and certain days of the week, as many as four trains a day now
served Mobile and the Gulf Coast. This also contributed to New Orleans
having more rail passenger service since the inception of Amtrak in 1971
with up to eight trains per day. The train proved to be successful and
continued operating into 1997. However, the success story of the Gulf Coast
Limited was once again cut short. Even though the trains proved to be a
success, Amtrak discontinued the service after 9 months on March 31,
1997. Once again, Mobile lost another passenger train while still being
served by the transcontinental Sunset Limited. This service termination left
the SRRTC back in the familiar position of trying to once again restore the
service across the Gulf Coast.
At the present time, existing service in the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail
Corridor, as Congress and the United States Department of Transportation
designated it, includes two Long Distance Amtrak routes:
The Crescent which makes daily round trips between New Orleans and New
York City via Slidell, Picayune, Hattiesburg, Laurel, Meridian, Tuscaloosa,
Birmingham, Anniston, Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington D.C.
The Sunset Limited which makes tri-weekly round trips between Los
Angeles and Orlando via El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, Lake Charles,
Lafayette, New Iberia, Schriever, New Orleans, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport,
Biloxi, Pascagoula, Mobile, Atmore, Pensacola and Jacksonville
In addition, Amtrak’s trains #58 and #59 the City of New Orleans provides
daily service north and southbound between New Orleans and Chicago via
Jackson and Memphis.
The SRRTC continues to work for improved and additional rail passenger
service in the tri-state area as adequate funds are become available through
local, state and federal sources. Capital and study projects on The Gulf
Coast High Speed Rail Corridor are also a primary focus within the
commission in its efforts to expand rail passenger service in and around the
tri-state area and beyond.
Edited by: Todd Stennis
97-213: An Act granting the consent of the Congress to an interstate
compact between the States of Mississippi and Louisiana, establishing a
commission to study the feasibility of rapid rail transit service between two
states.
The legislatures of Louisiana and Mississippi had previously enacted
legislation establishing the compact, pending Congressional approval, and
stipulating that any state not mentioned in this article which is contiguous to
any member state may become a party to this compact, subject to approval
by the legislature of each of the member states. One month prior to
passage of the law authorizing the interstate compact, the Alabama
Legislature had taken the action necessary to secure membership. Once
the act was adopted, The Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Rapid Rail
Transit Commission (now Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission) was
born.
On August 23, 1982, the new tri-state commission held its first meeting in
Slidell, Louisiana and adopted a resolution authorizing its newly elected
chairman to seek Federal and other funding sources for a proposed
passenger rail feasibility study. An application for Federal Discretionary
Funds was duly prepared and submitted to the Secretary of the United
States Department of Transportation. Once this funding was secured, a
feasibility study for proposed commuter rail service linking New Orleans to
three potential termini: Baton Rouge, Slidell and Mobile.
Ridership projections were developed for both commuter work-trips and
trips to the Louisiana World Exposition scheduled to take place in New
Orleans from May 12 through November 11, 1984. Further, the study
identified required capital improvements-including construction or renovation
of passenger stations, track maintenance, safety issues and service
facilities.
Based on the results of this study effort, the decision was made to pursue
the implementation of daily round trip passenger service on the Seaboard
System Railroad (formerly Louisville & Nashville, currently CSX
Transportation), linking Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana via
the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The commission entered into a section 403(b)
shared-subsidy operating agreement with the National Rail Passenger
Corporation (Amtrak), thus initiating Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Limited.
The inaugural run took place on April 28, 1984 with regular service
beginning on April 29. Regularly scheduled stops were made at five station
locations with the train originating in Mobile, Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport,
Waveland, New Orleans East and terminating in New Orleans Union
Passenger Terminal. The westbound (southbound) train #23 departed
Mobile at 7:00 a.m. and arrived in New Orleans at 10:40 a.m., with the
eastbound (northbound) train #24 departing New Orleans at 6:30 p.m. and
arriving back in Mobile at 10:00 p.m.
Ridership on the trains far exceeded Amtrak’s projection of 23 passenger-
miles per train-mile. During the five-month period of the World’s Fair in New
Orleans, the train carried an average of 229 passengers a day. Responses
to a week long on-board passenger survey undertaken by the rail
commission in September of 1984 indicated approximately 56% of all riders
were traveling to or from the fair. An earlier survey conducted by Amtrak in
June had resulted in estimated fair-related ridership of 76%. The rail
commission survey also revealed that 95% of all passengers were traveling
to or from New Orleans with approximately half coming from Mobile.
Although Amtrak had only required state funding sufficient to cover operating
expenses during the period of the Louisiana World Exposition, when the fair
closed on November 11, 1984, there was still adequate funding available to
keep the trains running for nearly two more months. The States of Alabama
and Louisiana each pledged a one-third share of matching funds required to
keep the trains running. However, the State of Mississippi declined to renew
its support resulting in the termination of trains #23 and #24, the Gulf Coast
Limited on January 6, 1985.
The next 4 ½ years were a period of prolonged frustration for the members
of the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Rapid Rail Transit Commission. First
in an effort to restore rail passenger service in the central Gulf Coast
corridor, the commission attempted to convince Amtrak officials that the
Sunset Limited, which ran tri-weekly between Los Angeles and New Orleans
should be extended from New Orleans east to Jacksonville. Inclusion of this
“missing link” in the national rail passenger system and would have created
the first transcontinental passenger train. While Amtrak officials undertook a
route evaluation, they ultimately decided against the extended Sunset
Limited route into Florida.
In 1986 the City of New Orleans granted funds to the SRRTC to conduct a
feasibility study for proposed commuter rail service between New Orleans
and the Mississippi Gulf Coast and between New Orleans and Baton
Rouge. The resulting New Orleans Regional Rail Transit Program identified
alternative alignments and operating scenarios for high-speed light-rail
service in New Orleans and for commuter operations linking the city to points
east and west.
In the fall of 1987, the SRRTC undertook a survey of 1,800 households on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast in an effort to locate commuters who worked in
the New Orleans area. The survey results were used to estimate the number
of potential rail patrons living on the coast and to project commuter rail
service ridership. A follow-up contractual study effort, performed by Burk
and Associates in 1989 developed an operational plan for rail passenger
service oriented to the needs of Mississippi Gulf Coast residents working in
the New Orleans area.
Separate demand estimates were made for work and other trip purposes,
including trips related to the initial gambling activity on the coast, a “cruise to
nowhere” gaming ship sailing daily from the Mississippi State Port in
Gulfport. The recommended plan included a schedule of operations,
designated stop locations, suggested fare schedule and proposed ancillary
facilities and services.
Rebuffed in their efforts to restore rail passenger service to the Gulf Coast,
commission members turned their attention to the Sunbelt Corridor (I-20
Corridor) crossing north Louisiana, central Mississippi and central
Alabama. A formal proposal for service linking Dallas, Texas and Atlanta,
Georgia via Shreveport, Monroe, Vicksburg, Jackson, Meridian, Tuscaloosa
and Birmingham was submitted to the National Rail Passenger
Corporation. The proposed route would have originated in New York City as
a run through addition to the already existing daily Amtrak trains #19 and
#20, the Crescent with the train being split in Meridian, Mississippi. Half of
the train would have continued on its current route to New Orleans and the
other portion traveling to Dallas, Texas over the Kansas City Southern.
Amtrak officials responded favorably to the proposal and conducted a route
evaluation that indicated the Kansas City Southern (formerly Illinois Central)
tracks along the proposed new route were in good condition. Enthusiastic
crowds along the entire route greeted the test train occupied by Amtrak and
SRRTC officials. The key to implementing this service was contingent on
acquiring a mail contract from the United States Postal Service to carry
mail. However, the subsequent failure to secure that contract doomed the
proposed “Crescent Star”.
Another evaluation was conducted by Amtrak for proposed rail passenger
service connecting New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport along the old
route of the Southern Belle operated by Kansas City Southern prior to the
inception of Amtrak. However, the findings resulted in poor track along
some portions of the proposed route, especially between New Orleans and
Baton Rouge. This would have substantial rehabilitation costs in upgrading
the track to accommodate passenger train service. Given the very high
projected capital costs associated with this proposal route, it was not given
further consideration.
In 1989 the commission set out again to initiate rail passenger service on
another route. This time the focus was on a section of the former Louisville
and Nashville Humming Bird route from Birmingham- Montgomery-Mobile.
New rail passenger service was established with a 403(b) Amtrak Train.
The Alabama contingent of commissioners, acting as the Alabama Rail
Transit Commission, succeeded in securing an agreement with the National
Rail Passenger Corporation to split the southbound Amtrak Train #19, The
Crescent at Birmingham. The portion taken off would then travel south over
the CSX Transportation line to Mobile via Montgomery. The northbound
train would then be merged back into Train #19 the northbound Crescent in
Birmingham continuing on to New York City. On October 27, 1989 Amtrak
Train #819 the Gulf Breeze made its inaugural run to Mobile, Alabama from
Birmingham with regularly scheduled daily service beginning October 30th
with the northbound train #820 from Mobile. Amtrak once again served
Mobile after a nearly five-year drought.
In just six years the commission was already successful in being heavily
involved with the start up of two new daily passenger trains in the tri-state
area. However, there was more much more to come. While the focus on
different routes in the area seemed to change, the Gulf Coast Corridor was
never abandoned. After several years, efforts to restore rail passenger
service to the Gulf Coast finally paid off with the extension of the Amtrak
Sunset Limited.
On March 31, 1993, Amtrak’s Sunset Limited made the first of a three day
inaugural run from New Orleans, across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, southern
Alabama, Florida Panhandle to Jacksonville and continued into Miami.
Regularly scheduled tri-weekly service began on April 3rd between Los
Angeles, California and Miami, Florida. It created several advantages for
the region. It gave Amtrak its first transcontinental passenger train thus
connecting the “missing link”, it restored rail passenger service to the Gulf
Coast for the first time since 1985, it added additional Amtrak service to
south Alabama and Mobile on top of the Gulf Breeze service, it added
through rail passenger service across the Florida panhandle for the first time
since 1971 and it added an additional fourth Amtrak train into the State of
Florida.
Even after the Sunset Limited extension took place the SRRTC continued to
lobby for daily passenger service across the Gulf Coast between New
Orleans and Mobile. Dockside gambling had entered south Mississippi and
was estimated to attract 10-12 million visitors a year, more people than had
attended the Louisiana World Exposition in 1984 when the Gulf Coast
Limited was in operation. Traffic counts on U.S. Highway 90 showed the
volume of traffic on this major artery running along the Mississippi Gulf Coast
had increased 25-30% over the first two years that dockside gaming had
been in place. Gaming was also introduced in Louisiana a short time after
Mississippi opened the gaming doors. With all of this additional traffic,
demand for travel within and to this region had greatly expanded since 1984.
Implicitly recognizing this potential, Amtrak undertook a new evaluation of the
proposed service in late 1993. This evaluation generated two possible
operating scenarios. One would use equipment for the Gulf Breeze; the
other would utilize the City of New Orleans equipment. The Gulf Breeze
extension would make the westbound (southbound) trip, from Mobile to New
Orleans, at night and the eastbound (northbound) trip to Mobile early in the
morning.
The other scenario would allow for the selected equipment from the City of
New Orleans to travel on a similar schedule to the original Gulf Coast
Limited. This would allow for a New Orleans to Mobile trip in the evening
and a return trip back to New Orleans in the morning. Operating expenses
and revenues were projected for both of these alternatives since both trains
had overnight layover equipment in New Orleans and Mobile. However,
Amtrak officials contended they had no available funds to support the
proposed new service, even on a shared-subsidy basis, despite the fact that
Congress included language in the Fiscal Year 1993 authorizing legislation
for the National Rail Passenger Corporation directing it to initiate service
between New Orleans and Mobile. A clause included in the legislation
directed Amtrak to provide such new service where equipment was
available and sufficient state and local funds were provided to cover
anticipated operating deficits. The SRRTC had previously secured the
commitment of funds sufficient to cover the projected states share under a
403(b) shared-subsidy arrangement.
In 1995, due to recent senior management changes and facing major cuts
from Congress, Amtrak implemented major service changes that included
terminating trains such as the Gulf Breeze. While this was a 403(b) train,
Amtrak opted to terminate this service beyond the normal Crescent service.
The only option to continue this service was for the State of Alabama to
continue the funding at the same level and have the service cut back to tri-
weekly, matching the new Crescent Schedule south of Atlanta, Georgia. On
March 31, 1995 the last Gulf Breeze, train #820 departed Mobile for New
York City. While Mobile was still served by the Sunset Limited, it lost its
service north to Montgomery, Birmingham and points beyond.
In 1991 the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) was
adopted by Congress. Over the course of the next two years ISTEA
identified five emerging high-speed rail corridors in addition to the existing
Northeast Corridor. In 1995, members of the Southern Rapid Rail Transit
Commission initiated efforts to secure designation of what was originally
called the Deep South High Speed Rail Corridor. When the Transportation
Equity Act reauthorized federal transportation programs for the 21st Century
(TEA-21) in 1998, the legislation included language granting formal
recognition to the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor.
The corridor had originally been conceived to include only the existing
Sunset Limited route across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, with the
logical termini in Houston, Texas and Pensacola or Jacksonville, Florida at
the other end. It was subsequently modified to include another essential link
in the emerging national high-speed rail network: The current Crescent route
from New Orleans to Atlanta via Hattiesburg, Meridian, Tuscaloosa and
Birmingham.
After the loss of the Gulf Breeze in 1995, the SRRTC continued its long
quest for daily passenger service across the Gulf Coast to Mobile. Finally,
after 10 1/2 years of continued effort, the Gulf Coast Limited was brought
back into service on an experimental basis. This was originally planned for
a 90-day trial run. On June 27, 1996, the Gulf Coast Limited made its
second inaugural run to and from Mobile. On June 28th trains #23 and #24
were back in daily service. The schedule allowed for a morning run from
Mobile to New Orleans with an evening return trip back to Mobile. Three
trains a day and certain days of the week, as many as four trains a day now
served Mobile and the Gulf Coast. This also contributed to New Orleans
having more rail passenger service since the inception of Amtrak in 1971
with up to eight trains per day. The train proved to be successful and
continued operating into 1997. However, the success story of the Gulf Coast
Limited was once again cut short. Even though the trains proved to be a
success, Amtrak discontinued the service after 9 months on March 31,
1997. Once again, Mobile lost another passenger train while still being
served by the transcontinental Sunset Limited. This service termination left
the SRRTC back in the familiar position of trying to once again restore the
service across the Gulf Coast.
At the present time, existing service in the Gulf Coast High Speed Rail
Corridor, as Congress and the United States Department of Transportation
designated it, includes two Long Distance Amtrak routes:
The Crescent which makes daily round trips between New Orleans and New
York City via Slidell, Picayune, Hattiesburg, Laurel, Meridian, Tuscaloosa,
Birmingham, Anniston, Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington D.C.
The Sunset Limited which makes tri-weekly round trips between Los
Angeles and Orlando via El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, Lake Charles,
Lafayette, New Iberia, Schriever, New Orleans, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport,
Biloxi, Pascagoula, Mobile, Atmore, Pensacola and Jacksonville
In addition, Amtrak’s trains #58 and #59 the City of New Orleans provides
daily service north and southbound between New Orleans and Chicago via
Jackson and Memphis.
The SRRTC continues to work for improved and additional rail passenger
service in the tri-state area as adequate funds are become available through
local, state and federal sources. Capital and study projects on The Gulf
Coast High Speed Rail Corridor are also a primary focus within the
commission in its efforts to expand rail passenger service in and around the
tri-state area and beyond.
Edited by: Todd Stennis
History
History
 |
|  |
|  |
|  |
|  |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
