The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week awarded $33 million to the Southern Rail Commission in the hopes of restoring passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast that has been stunted since the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
After more than a decade, however, the Southern Rail Commission believes they can get things moving again through a $65.9 million project. Other contributors include Mississippi, Louisiana, and Amtrak. One of the leading proponents of the venture — U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) hailed the move as an economically positive one — not to mention a matter of pride.
“For Mississippi, restoring passenger rail service is a symbol of the huge strides our state has made to recover from one of the most devastating storms on record,” Wicker said. “Reconnecting the Gulf Coast to our nation’s passenger rail network will increase access to jobs, provide an alternative to highway travel, and improve quality of life in the region.”
In 2016, Wicker was among those joining the Southern Rail Commission and Amtrak on a passenger rail inspection trip to examine existing infrastructure and to examine what intercity rail service could do for the region. Those efforts carried them from New Orleans, through stops in Mississippi and on into Florida.
“Mississippi senators have always been strong champions of passenger rail in our region, with Senator Roger Wicker chief among those,” Knox Ross, Southern Rail Commissioner, said. “We would never be this close to seeing trains run again without the strong support of Senator Wicker and his hard work to authorize the necessary programs and supply them with funding.”