After years of anticipation, the cry of the conductor, the shimmer of costumes, and the crush of the crowd made it clear I wasn’t the only one who’d been dreaming of this day.
The brass band played, the confetti flew, and the crowd of hundreds cheered and whooped as an Amtrak train left Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans headed east for the first time in 20 years. Between muffalettas, Moon Pies, shrimp cocktail and a more than a few flights of champagne, spirits on board soared as the train barrelled across the Gulf Coast, meeting exultant crowds in Bay Saint Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula before a power-packed reception in Mobile.
Saturday’s inaugural ride of the new "Mardi Gras Service" marked more than the return of passenger rail along the Gulf Coast — it was, in the words of Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, “a testimony to dogged determination.” The two daily round-trips between New Orleans and Mobile are the result of decades of tireless work by local, state, and federal officials, advocates, and residents who slogged through funding setbacks and red tape, refusing to let the vision die after Hurricane Katrina wiped out service in 2005.
For Senator Wicker, the launch is personal. “It means so many things,” he told me onboard the inaugural run. “It means convenience. It means public safety. It means job creation. It also means just pulling our communities together. I think we’re going to see great growth in the Mississippi communities that span the Gulf Coast.”
Wicker stressed that the line’s long-term success depends on proving its worth. “We need to make sure the numbers come out. We have to prove that it works here,” he said, noting that pre-Katrina service was often late because it shared tracks with long-haul Western routes. “This train is gonna be on time… it’s got one thing to do — go between New Orleans and Mobile twice a day and provide a service people can count on and rely on. They’re gonna look at the cost-benefit analysis and how this has worked in other places — I think this is going to be a success, because we have the numbers.”
Louisiana Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser sees the route as an economic engine for regional tourism. In the café car, he explained to me that “when international travelers come to America, they want to see not just one state. Now, they can fly into New Orleans, spend some time there, get on this train and see two other great states.”
But both leaders agree — the Mardi Gras Service is just the start. Nungesser called on Governor Landry, Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson and the rest of Louisiana’s congressional delegation to “keep our foot on the gas” for expansion to Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and beyond. Wicker framed the Gulf Coast route as “the first major expansion of an Amtrak line outside the Northeast in a long time… a test to see how it works.”
Amtrak anticipates 70,000 riders in the first year of service, and the opening week is already sold out. Speakers at the Mobile reception crowed about shockingly impressive numbers on new routes, and America’s increasing appetite for alternatives to car and plane travel.
A lot of the chatter I heard on the train was about how people would now be able to travel to New Orleans and back for a Saints game, or leave the city for a languorous weekend at the beach, or live it up at the coastal resorts, casinos and restaurants. As such, the Mardi Gras Service connects more than cities — it links cultures, leaving the distinct impression that politics, geography and demographic differences are no match for a shared track, a cold drink, and the promise of good times on the other end of the line.