Filed: Latest Progress Report on Amtrak Gulf Coast Service (UPDATED 6/20)

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor

(Southern Rail Commission illustration)

What’s the status of the proposed Amtrak service between New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala.? Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), and Alabama State Port Authority and its common carrier operating division, Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks, on June 14 submitted a joint report to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), providing updates on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) CRISI Grant Agreement and on negotiations with the City of Mobile, which are “making good progress,” they said. One sticking point for the City that has been resolved: The State of Alabama has agreed to support service operations.

STB on May 23 required the Parties to file the joint status report, if they had not fully implemented their November 2022 settlement to get two Amtrak trains running in each direction between New Orleans and Mobile, ultimately restoring passenger service in a region that has not had access to it since Hurricane Katrina in 2005; if they had not requested dismissal of the proceeding; and if the STB had not otherwise ordered additional actions.

On Feb. 14, 2024, the STB held a hearing to discuss what was holding up implementation of the Parties’ settlement agreement. The Parties told the STB that the FRA had awarded a $178 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program (CRISI) grant to Amtrak to fund certain agreed-upon rail infrastructure projects associated with the service, and that Amtrak had been working with FRA to finalize a funding agreement related to the CRISI grant. Dismissing the Amtrak Gulf Coast Service proceeding, the Parties said, would not be appropriate until the final CRISI grant agreement was executed.

“During the hearing, the Parties explained that before Gulf Coast Service can commence, in addition to finalizing the CRISI Grant Agreement, a platform and layover track must be constructed in Mobile, Ala. (Mobile Station Track Project),” the STB reported Feb. 26, 2024. “According to the Parties, the Mobile Station Track Project requires review under the National Environmental Policy Act (‘NEPA’) at FRA, and Amtrak is negotiating a land use agreement with the City of Mobile (‘Mobile’) related to the Mobile Station Track Project. Finally, according to the Parties, before Gulf Coast Service can commence, Amtrak must also negotiate an operating agreement with Mobile.”

The STB decided on Feb. 26 that the Amtrak Gulf Coast Service proceeding would remain in abeyance and directed the Parties to file a joint status report by March 15 covering issues raised during the hearing. Updated reports have been filed ever since.

Following are details from the Parties’ June 14 report (scroll down to download):

CRISI Grant Agreement: The grant agreement includes both “General Terms and Conditions” and “Project Specific Terms and Conditions.” The General Terms and Conditions have been finalized and the Project Specific Terms and Conditions are expected to be finalized in July 2024, according to the Parties. They noted that as previously reported, in March 2024, “Amtrak learned that some of the included crossings in the Mississippi Grade Crossings Project have already received upgrades and no longer need to be addressed with funding from the CRISI Grant.” Amtrak has been working with the Mississippi Department of Transportation to identify “suitable alternative crossings and to update the Project Specific Terms and Conditions content accordingly,” the Parties said.

Mobile Station Track Project Environmental Review: The STB “previously inquired as to the status of National Environmental Policy Act (‘NEPA’) review, Section 106 review, and Coastal Zone Management Act (‘CZMA’) review for the Mobile Station Track Project,” the Parties reported. “As to NEPA and Section 106 review, Amtrak submitted the Final Categorical Exclusion (‘CE’) Worksheet to the FRA for review on or about May 22, 2024 … At the time of submission … all clearances had been received. However, Amtrak subsequently learned that a number of utilities owned and utilized by the City of Mobile need to be relocated as part of the Mobile Station Track Project. City officials delivered proposed plans for such relocation to CSX, and CSX is reviewing the plans and will incorporate such relocation into the Mobile Station Track Project construction work. The original NEPA and Section 106 evaluations did not account for the location of the new utility alignment, nor for the depth of excavation required to relocate the utilities because potential impacts associated with utility relocation were not known at the time. It is anticipated that the utility relocation will require additional Section 106 consultation with the Alabama State Historical Preservation Office (‘AL SHPO’) and other consultation parties. The CE Worksheet cannot be approved by FRA until the Section 106 consultation process is resolved. This additional environmental review will affect the timing of construction and the timing for the restoration of passenger service. However, the utility relocation will not affect the previously reported CZMA determination that the project will have no reasonably foreseeable effects on Alabama coastal uses or resources.”

Environmental Review for the CRISI Grant Agreement Projects: As the Parties previously reported, environmental review for the CRISI Grant Agreement Projects “is not an explicit prerequisite for the commencement of passenger operations, however, each party to the settlement agreement has the right to withhold their consent to the CRISI Grant Agreement until environmental review for the CRISI Grant Agreement Projects is complete.” Since the May 1 status report, the Parties said that “Amtrak has continued to develop a draft request for proposal and scope of work for environmental review for the CRISI Grant Agreement Projects.” Additionally, “America’s Railroad” met with the FRA on June 4, “to discuss the priority of the CRISI Grant Agreement Projects and the appropriate NEPA class of action for the projects.” Amtrak and CSX have also continued weekly project team meetings “to advance preliminary design work and environmental review for the CRISI Grant Agreement Projects to be constructed on CSX,” according to the Parties, which noted that NS has not been involved in those meetings since it ”has completed its preliminary design and environmental work and is prepared to move to the next steps.”

Negotiations with the City of Mobile: Amtrak and the City of Mobile “are making good progress in resolving all issues with respect to both the Lease Agreement for the Mobile Station Project and the requirement for operating support for the restoration of Amtrak service,” according to the Parties, who reported that Amtrak has been meeting with the Mayor’s staff on a bi-weekly basis and is in regular contact by email. “Amtrak appeared before the Mobile Board of Adjustment on May 6, 2024, and received unanimous support for Amtrak’s zoning exception application for the Mobile Station Project,” they said. “Representatives from CSX and the Port spoke in support of Amtrak’s application. The public appeal period ended on May 22, 2024, with no appeals filed. Now that this zoning exception application has been approved, Amtrak and CSX will be submitting all necessary building permits for the project.” Amtrak, the Southern Rail Commission, and Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson on May 28 provided a public briefing to the Mobile City Council on service restoration. The Council members’ discussion “largely focused on the $3.048 million in operating support that is being sought from the City as part of the Restoration and Enhancement Grant Match Funding Requirement,” the Parties said. “Some Members of the City Council expressed concern about the City of Mobile supplying local operating support for Amtrak service when such support is traditionally a State responsibility. Members of the City Council requested that the Mayor reach out to the State to revisit the option of the State contributing toward the operating support required for restoration of Amtrak service. After performing such outreach, on June 11, 2024, the Mayor announced that the State of Alabama and the Port both have agreed to contribute toward the $3.048 million in operating support that is required for the Restoration and Enhancement Grant Match.” Now, Amtrak and the Mayor’s staff “are working to complete negotiations expeditiously and to finalize the agreement language to be brought before the City Council for a vote,” the Parties reported. “The City Council currently plans to consider the Lease Agreement and the operating support funding agreement simultaneously. A City Council vote is expected in a matter of weeks.”

The next status report is slated for Aug. 1.

UPDATE: The Alabama State Port Authority’s Board of Directors on June 18 voted unanimously to commit $1 million in Gulf Coast operating support over three years, according to AI.com, the news site of Alabama Media Group.

“We think it’s in the Port’s best interest to offer one-third (toward the subsidy) in moving this forward,” Port President and CEO John Driscoll told Board members, the news site reported. “‘We think this can help move the ball forward.’ Driscoll said the biggest benefit for the authority is an approximately $4 million-plus project” called the Virginia Street Lead. It includes 1,400 feet of new track and 4,100 feet of refurbished track; once completed, AI.com said, the project “will improve access to McDuffie Island Coal Terminal and the Port’s Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, and will reduce potential conflicts with Amtrak operations.“

According to AI.com, the Port’s approval of the $1 million operational subsidy “is no guarantee that the Amtrak project will receive its full operational funding.“ The State of Alabama must commit “$1 million over three years,“ the news site said. “[Alabama Gov. Kay] Ivey’s office has verbally expressed interest in support, but the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget is already approved and the Legislature—which votes on the annual budget—is not in session and likely won’t be until next spring. The Mobile City Council is also going to be asked to support a $1 million subsidy over the next three years, and some of the council members have said they have concerns about the appropriation and whether the city will be on the hook for its operations after the third year. It takes five of the council’s seven members to approve the subsidy, and at least two council members have expressed deep reservations about backing it.“