Four daily services are envisaged, stopping at New Orleans, Bay St Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula in Mississippi.
The federal grant will be matched with commitments from the State of Mississippi, the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the City of Mobile, Amtrak, and private partners, and is paired with priority investments from the State of Louisiana. The combined funding will be used to make the major infrastructure and capital investments required to allow Amtrak to move ahead with launching new regular passenger service between the two cities on the Gulf coast.
The Southern Rail Commission (SRC), which applied for the grant from the federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) programme, says it is hoping the State of Alabama will also provide funding to support extending the service across the state border to Mobile.
The investment is also expected to improve freight services along the route.
SRC has been working to restore the Gulf Coast passenger rail service after it was stopped nearly 14 years ago when Hurricane Katrina destroyed rail infrastructure along the coast.
According to the University of Southern Mississippi Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, the passenger service is expected to generate $US 282.58m annually in the State of Mississippi, and will create 45 new full-time jobs in Louisiana.
The SRC, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Amtrak hope to have trains running in 24 months, if negotiations for track access with CSX go well.
