Passenger rail is back on the Gulf Coast! Amtrak Mardi Gras Service launched bright and early on Monday, August 18, connecting the people of the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coast by rail for the first time since Hurricane Katrina devastated the coast in 2005. On the Saturday before service opened to the public, Transportation for America staff, including Senior Policy Advisor John Robert Smith, joined elected officials and leaders of this years-long effort to celebrate the return of s...| Transportation For America
The Trump administration’s delay of the nation’s largest public transit and intercity passenger rail project underscores what Congress should already know: the Trump administration is a bad-faith partner and a clear threat to the legislative process.| Transportation For America
Federal advocacy and allies were essential to turning local momentum for passenger rail from New Orleans to Mobile—set to reopen this very year—into a regional, and national, success story.| Transportation For America
After the setbacks of the late 90s and early 2000s, passenger rail advocates along the Gulf Coast were not discouraged. Through the work of a Regional Rail Commission and the cultivation of relationships with local, regional, and federal leaders, these advocates were able to build a foundation for the implementation of passenger rail restoration in the region.| Transportation For America
Almost a century ago, the railroads were the economic engine of the country, spurring the transportation of both goods and people over long distances. Now, the American railroad system is merely a specter of its former self. How did the United States devolve from an expanded passenger rail network to the system we have today?| Transportation For America
