Mobile - Amtrak discusses restoring service

Despite pleas from at least two rail passenger advocacy groups, Amtrak has made no move to reinstate some form of the Sunset Limited service east of New Orleans, though the company says it has not ruled out the possibility of restoring passenger service to Mobile. Meanwhile, Amtrak has implemented indirect service from Mobile via its Thruway Motor Coach Connection, where passengers take a Greyhound bus leaving Mobile at 7 a.m. bound for Jackson, Miss., where they may board an Amtrak train and arrive in Memphis that night or in Chicago the next morning. Tickets must be purchased separately through Greyhound and Amtrak. "We continue to discuss restoration of a direct rail connection," Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari of Chicago told the Press-Register last week. (Here for full story)

According to Press-Register reports, the Sunset Limited was both unprofitable and unpopular, with about 1,600 passengers traveling to or from Mobile on it in 2004, its last full year of operation. In contrast, the Birmingham station sees more than 30,000 passengers each year.

But Amtrak maintains it hasn't ruled out the return of passenger service for Mobile, noting that an Amtrak station is still part of the condo-retail plan. The transit commission's Sanders said "America in general needs to be serious about providing the opportunity to travel by rail." As a major city in the region, Mobile should have direct service, she said.

Press-Register