Today, Amtrak and the parent company of Greyhound buses are announcing a new service connecting to and from Baton Rouge. Meanwhile, work on bringing a railway link between New Orleans and the state capital continues.
Louisiana transportation officials are in the midst of what's known as a "corridor identification" study, said Southern Rail Commission chairman Knox Ross.
"They are working through that, I understand they are pretty close to having that first part done," said Ross.
Ross says there's a lot of work to do, like identifying what towns in between would get stops, and where to put those train depots.
"It goes into a second phase, which is basically a top-to-bottom review of where the stations would be, what improvements have to be made to the infrastructure," Ross said.
In one week, Amtrak launches the Mardi Gras, a new twice-daily passenger rail between New Orleans and Mobile, with stops on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Ross says if that proves popular -- and the early bookings have been good -- that would further build the case for a train to Baton Rouge.
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