Very soon, you’ll be able to buy an Amtrak ticket and be able to ride the bus and train from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and on to Mobile, Alabama. WWL’s Newell Normand spoke to Florian Sitrin of Flix about their Mardi Gras service that will begin on Monday, August 18th connecting the Gulf Coast allowing end-to-end service between Mobile and New Orleans for travelers to come and go in both directions.
After the 18th of August, you’ll be able to ride the bus from Baton Rouge, connect to the train from Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, and be able to jaunt over to the Gulf Coast for food, fun, work, or relaxation. According to Amtrak and Flix (the parent company of Greyhound and Flixbus), buses will depart daily at 5:35am and 2pm (with arrivals scheduled for 7am and 4:45pm) from Baton Rouge’s Greyhound station.
That will allow riders to seamlessly hop onto the Amtrak train to Mobile without having to stress about buying a separate ticket.
The Mobile-New Orleans train will make stops in Bay St.
Louis, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pascagoula, Mississippi. Florian Sitrin oversees business collaborations for Flix and told Normand this announcement aligns with the company’s goal to make intercity travel easier not only for the Gulf Coast region, but across the country.
While other areas of the country have long been familiar with integrated bus and rail systems, particularly in the northeast, the Gulf Coast region hasn’t been able to enjoy such long-term integration before now. “I think people are really open-minded … much more than many think, about how they want to get from Point A to Point B. We have a lot of service down in the south and we appreciate them down there,” added Sitrin.