The Southern Rail Commission (SRC) has announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has allocated more than $2 million in funding to 11 communities in three states for restored and improved passenger rail service.
The FRA will award 11 grants to the following communities for station-area planning and construction projects.
- Alabama will receive grants to the cities of Anniston, Birmingham, Mobile and Tuscaloosa;
- Louisiana will be awarded grants to Baton Rouge, the city of Gonzales and St. John Parish; and
- Mississippi will receive grants for the cities of Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pascagoula.
“Our Congressional delegation has led the cause of restoring rail to Gulf Coast at the federal level, leveraging the strong local demand that has been building since 2005,” said Greg White, SRC chairman. “We are especially grateful to Senators Cochran and Wicker of Mississippi, in particular, who played a critical role in accelerating the availability of these Federal Railroad Administration funds, building on the growing momentum to keep this large-scale project moving forward.”
The grants will ensure safe access and better connectivity to and from the station, improved convenience for riders and updated facilities. Funds are provided for improvements to existing stations, as well as planning for new stations. All of the communities have committed to planning a re-established passenger rail service.
“Passenger rail service has been out of commission in many of these communities since Hurricane Katrina destroyed rail infrastructure across the Gulf Coast in 2005,” stated Knox Ross, secretary-treasurer of SRC. “These awards demonstrate the strong commitment by both Senators Cochran and Wicker and our Mississippi cities to seeing Amtrak return to the Gulf Coast. The SRC is pleased to partner with these cities to bring back Amtrak to the Gulf Coast.”
John Spain, vice- chair of SRC, said, “These grants will allow our Louisiana communities to locally plan their stations for the re-establishment of passenger rail connecting the New Orleans to Baton Rouge super-region, a project that has tremendous support from the business community and is a priority for Governor Bel Edwards.”
Funds will be available in early 2017 and projects are expected to be completed within 24 months of receiving the awards.