PANAMA CITY — Efforts to restore a passenger rail line between Orlando and New Orleans received a nod from Congress last week as representatives approved a bipartisan bill that would launch a study to explore the feasibility of the service.
Publicly funded rail company Amtrak operated a rail line between Jacksonville and New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina, but service has not been restored since the storm knocked out operations nearly a decade ago. The rails have since been repaired, but are not currently used by passenger trains.
Developing the "Gulf Coast Passenger Rail" has emerged as a top priority for the Southern Rail Commission, a group charged with promoting safe and efficient transportation in the region. The group is proposing a route that would run from Orlando to Jacksonville, and across the Florida Panhandle, Alabama and Mississippi to end in New Orleans.
SRC Chair Knox Ross said approval of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act, H.R. 749, marks the first step toward that goal.
"Probably our main focus right now is restoring the service between Orlando and New Orleans and Jacksonville and New Orleans," Ross said. "What we're looking at is doing something different and better than what was there before."
The previous rail line, the "Sunset Limited," had many flaws — running just three days a week and at odd hours, Ross said. The train did not stop in Panama City, but instead ran further north along the I-10 corridor with stops in Tallahassee, Chipley and Crestview.
Ross, who serves as mayor of Pelahatchie, Miss., a small town just outside Jackson, said access to transportation is essential in supporting economic progress in the many small towns along the Gulf Coast. New transportation options have become even more critical in the Jackson area, he said, because the airport recently lost service from Southwest Airlines.
"It's become difficult for people to get where they're going for a reasonable amount of money," Ross said. "Especially these smaller cities like Crestview, they need something to connect themselves to the outside world."
The SRC, a volunteer board appointed by the governors of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, has also applied for a grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration to examine the economic benefits of restoring the route.
"With the challenges we all face ... one of the most critical issues there is mobility and connection," Ross said. "We're trying to keep this so the cities in our part of the country can be competitive."
Following the 316-101 passage of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act in the House of Representatives, the bill next will be taken up by the Senate. However, as it stands now, the Senate version of the bill does not include language to address the Orlando to New Orleans rail line, something the SRC is now pushing for.
In full, the bill would authorize $7.2 billion in spending through 2020 for rail-passenger service between U.S. cities, including $5.3 billion for Amtrak operations and capital improvements as well as $1.2 billion in grants for state-operated lines.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who voted in favor of H.R. 749, described the feasibility study as an important first step for the region.
“Since Hurricane Katrina, Northwest Florida has been the only region in our state without access to national passenger rail," Graham said. “New service from Orlando to New Orleans has the potential to create jobs and economic growth in our community. This study is an important first step in determining if passenger rail should return.”
