CSX, NS Seek Dismissal of Amtrak STB Case Over Gulf Coast Service

CSX and Norfolk Southern have asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to dismiss Amtrak’s petition asking regulators to force the two Class 1 railroads to allow operation of new Gulf Coast passenger service next year.

The host railroads said Amtrak’s complaint is not “ripe” because they have not refused Amtrak’s proposed service.

In a filing, the two railroads said they want Amtrak to live up to the commitments it made to complete a joint rail traffic controller modeling study to determine the infrastructure that will be required to support the service Amtrak wants to implement.

Amtrak has proposed operating two daily roundtrips between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

The filing by NS and CSX also contends that Amtrak has not submitted an environmental and historic report with its STB petition, and that Congress did not give Amtrak any cause of action that could support its demand for an “interim order” allowing it to enter other railroads’ lines to perform preparations for new service before the STB decides whether the new service will be allowed.

Furthermore, the host railroads argued that Amtrak lacks important state support to ensure success of the proposed service.

At the center of the dispute is Amtrak’s withdrawing from a traffic study the host railroads contend must be completed before they will discuss what infrastructure improvements are needed to accommodate passenger service.

For its part, Amtrak contends the railroads hindered completion of the study by changing its parameters as it was being conducted.

The passenger carrier at the time it filed its request with the STB in February said it was seeking to force NS and CSX to demonstrate why they cannot host the proposed service.

In statement released after the host railroads asked the STB to dismiss the case, Amtrak said the matter is being considered by regulators and the intercity passenger carrier “fully anticipate the STB’s process will be both transparent and data driven. We will respond to all filings through that docket.”

At the time that Amtrak went to the STB, an Amtrak spokesman indicated that discussions about instituting the service have been ongoing for five years with no sign of a conclusion in sight.

Amtrak contends that federal law gives it a right of access to the host railroads for the proposed Mobile service.

In the past week, the STB case has also drawn the attention of various Alabama political officials.

Gov. Kay Ivey called for completion of the traffic study, which she said it critical for protecting the economic interests of the Port of Mobile.

Ivey said she wants the STB to order Amtrak to complete the traffic study before considering Amtrak’s application.

The governor’s statement to the STB also said, “Alabama has withheld funding for new Gulf Coast passenger service because of our concern that any economic benefit from new passenger rail service will be outweighed by the potential harm to freight rail service based on the current infrastructure. I am particularly concerned about the impact to the Port of Mobile. . .”

Mobile Port Authority CEO John C. Driscoll also has asked the STB to order Amtrak to complete the traffic study.

Port Officials have long expressed concern that passenger operations will adversely affect CSX freight service to the port.

Driscoll said in his statement that the port authority “does not oppose passenger rail into the City of Mobile, but we do have deep concerns regarding Amtrak’s impact on servicing current freight rail as well as servicing future freight capacity demand in the CSX corridor.”

Until August 2005 Amtrak served Mobile with its tri-weekly Sunset Limited, which operated along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida.

Operation of Nos. 1 and 2 east of New Orleans was suspended after the route was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Fighting Continues at STB over Gulf Service

Amtrak has asked the U.S. Surface Transportation board to dismiss the objections of CSX and Norfolk Southern to a case the passenger carrier filed in March seeking to force them to allow new service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

The two Class 1 railroads and Amtrak have long been at odds over what improvements are needed to allow the Mobile service to begin.

In its latest filing Amtrak refered to federal law pertaining to use of railroad facilities and providing service to Amtrak.

The law in question, the Amtrak filing said, allows it to operate additional trains over a rail line of the carrier.

The law allows Amtrak to seek an STB order requiring the carrier to provide or allow for the operation of the requested trains.

CSX and NS contend that Amtrak must complete a traffic study begun last year of how the Mobile service would affect their operations.

That study has yet to be completed and Amtrak wants both host railroad to be forced to explain why they cannot host the new Amtrak service.

Amtrak is also seeking to force the host railroads to explain what infrastructure improvements are needed to enable the new service to begin.

The line in question was used by Amtrak until August 2005 when it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

At the time, Amtrak suspended operates of its Sunset Limited east of New Orleans.

In a related development U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) has asked the STB to allow Amtrak to expand service along the Gulf Coast.

Wicker’s letter was sent in response to Amtrak’s petition to restore the service along the coast.
“Implementing twice-daily service between New Orleans and Mobile would provide a huge economic lift to Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula, and other cities along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. It would serve as the culmination of Mississippi’s efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina,” Wicker wrote.

In a contrary position, the Port of New Orleans and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Commission have asked the STB to complete the traffic study of how Mobile service would affect host railroads CSX and NS.

In their letter, the two entities asked the STB to order Amtrak to complete the traffic control study with supplemental engineering and cost report.

The agencies said they are not opposed to the new Amtrak service but said the study “is needed to adequately understand the impact the passenger-rail service will have on current and future freight service through the region.”

Amtrak to Pay for Gulf Coast Station Rehabilitation

Amtrak wants to pay to repair station platforms once used by its Sunset Limited east of New Orleans.

The platforms would be used by a proposed new service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, that Amtrak wants to begin in 2022.

The boarding sites were damaged in August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Shortly after the storm stuck, Amtrak suspended operation of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans.

Amtrak is seeking approval from the Federal Railroad Administration to make the station repairs.

Amtrak Vice President of Stations and Accessibility, David Handera, said at a recently meeting of the Southern Rail Commission that the repairs are the first phase of a rehabilitation project Amtrak plans to undertake to ready the route for passenger service.

The stations are located in four Mississippi cities, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Pascagoula, and Biloxi, and Mobile, Alabama.

Handera said a temporary platform is needed in Pascagoula because CSX tracks has seen been related always from the site of the former platform.

“We are working with the FRA on assembling funding sources for the short-term and long-term repairs,” Handera said.

He said Amtrak would develop in a second phase of the project “new accessible, well-lit platforms.”

U.S. DOT Awards Grant for Gulf Coast Service

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday announced that it will award a $4.36 million grant to the Southern Rail Commission to help restore intercity rail service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

The service, expected to be two round trips per day, will use tracks formerly served by Amtrak’s Sunset Limited until August 2005 when it was suspended in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The grant is being made through the federal Restoration and Enhancement program and is intended to help pay operating expenses for the first year of service.

The states of Louisiana and Mississippi have committed $1.4 million toward the service while another $33 million federal grant award to get the service started was awarded through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program for infrastructure and capital improvements.

However, Alabama officials have yet to agree to provide any funding for the service.

SRC officials said they hope Alabama state officials will support the passenger rail restoration by providing matching funds during the next grant cycle.

“I look forward to working with my fellow commissioners and Alabama state leadership to provide the necessary support to leverage additional federal operating funds to make Gulf Coast Rail a reality,” said Wiley Blankenship, an SRC member from Alabama.

Another stumbling block that must be overcome is reaching an agreement with host railroad CSX on the infrastructure work that is needed before passenger trains can resume using the route.

Likewise, an operating agreement with CSX also needs to be negotiated.

SRC Mulls Options for Gulf Coast Service

Southern Rail Commission members are considering their options now that state funding matches needed to restore Amtrak service to the Gulf Coast have been turned down by governors of two states.

SRC officials say they are not giving up on reinstating service that was suspended in August 2005 in the aftermath of the devastation brought by Hurrican Katrina.

“We missed out on this money — and that’s disappointing,” said Knox Ross, the SRC’s secretary-treasurer. “But we’re hoping there is a path forward to take advantage of the next grant period.”

One potential bright spot is that Mississippi’s Transportation Commission, which is independent from the state’s executive branch, has committed to use more than $4 million in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality operating funds should necessary capital investments be secured for rail service.

SRC members have met with Amtrak officials, including CEO Richard Anderson and Chief Commercial Officer Stephen Gardner.

Ross said he has spoken with Amtrak officials “who are extremely committed to make this happen.”

One option might be restoration of service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, which Amtrak operated in the 1980s as the Gulf Coast Limited and in the middle 1990s.

Those trains were funded by the states involved, but ended after state support was withdrawn.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimson and the area’s county commissioners have signed letters of support to revive rail service and are working with the Port of Mobile on congestion mitigation issues.

Aside from lack of financial support from the governors of Mississippi and Alabama, the SRC faces the matter of  host railroad CSX and Federal Railroad Administration disagreement about which of the railroad’s demanded track capacity improvement demands need to be satisfied before one or two New Orleans-Mobile daily round trips can be inaugurated.

Amtrak Favors Gulf Coast Service Restoration

Amtrak is in favor of restoration of service along the Gulf Coast east of New Orleans.

Charles “Wick” Moorman, Amtrak’s president, recently expressed that support in a letter of the Southern Rail Commission.

The letter spoke of Amtrak’s “firm commitment to the Gulf Coast project, and our interest and support for other projects that are underway in (the) region.”

Until August 2005, Amtrak’s Sunset Limited had operated between New Orleans and Orlando, Florida, as part of its transcontinental route.

But the service was suspended in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which heavily damaged the CSX tracks used by the train and some Amtrak stations.

The tracks have been repaired, but the service has yet to resume.

“We are committed to operating both the long-distance and corridor services on the Gulf Coast route as soon as the necessary funding can be arranged, and the necessary agreements are in place to implement the service,” Moorman wrote.

The Southern Rail Commission is made up of representatives of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It has formed a Gulf Coast Working Group to come up with a plan to restore daily Amtrak service between New Orleans and Florida.

The group is also seeking to create a second train that would originate in Alabama and terminate in New Orleans. The final report from the working group has yet to be released.

Members of the working group also include representatives of Amtrak, CSX, the Federal Railroad Administration.

In his letter, Moorman said Amtrak also “strongly supports” the Commission’s efforts to launch a Baton Rouge-New Orleans corridor and an extension of a section of the New York-New Orleans Crescent west from Meridian, Miss., to Fort Worth, Texas.

Moorman pledged to “obtain the necessary commitments from host railroads to determine the capital and operating needs of each service in order to advance all of these important projects.” The host railroads would be Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific.

The Fort Worth extension of the Crescent proposal dates to the late 1990s when Amtrak was activity courting mail and express business.

Trains magazine recently reported that an Amtrak study has found that the Fort Worth train would have enough ridership to make it worthwhile.

It is not clear, though, if Amtrak has enough rolling stock to equip all of the services being sought by the Southern Rail Commission.

Mobile to Use Grant to Design New Station

Mobile, Alabama, has received a $125,000 grant that will be used to design a new station for the proposed expansion of Amtrak service along the Gulf of Mexico east of New Orleans.

The money will be used to create a master plan for the station area as well as an architectural design for the depot.

The station is expected to be built downtown near Cooper Riverside Park in close proximity to the cruise terminal and the Mobile Convention Center.

The grant was awarded by the Southern Rail Commission, which has been pressing for the return of intercity rail passenger service on the former Sunset Limited route between New Orleans and Orlando, Florida.

The service was suspended east of New Orleans in August 2005 after Hurricane Katrina heavy damaged the CSX tracks used by the train.

The tracks have long since been repairs, but Amtrak has yet to reinstate service. The Sunset Limited continues to operate between New Orleans and Los Angeles on a tri-weekly schedule.

GOP Lawmaker Support Raises Hopes for Restoration of Amtrak Gulf Coast Service

News reports in the past week have indicated that the proposal to restore Amtrak service between New Orleans and Florida is gaining crucial support among Republican lawmakers along the route.

Given that both houses of Congress are controlled by Republicans that support might prove to be important in restoring intercity rail passenger service to a route that lost it after Hurricane Katrina damaged the line in August 2005.

At the time, Amtrak’s tri-weekly Sunset Limited operated along the Gulf Coast on a route between Orlando, Florida, and Los Angeles, via the Florida cities of Jacksonville and Tallahassee, and Mobile, Alabama.

The news reports have said that some lawmakers who represent the Gulf Coast region of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, have spoken in public in favor of restoring rail service.

Passenger rail advocates have said that federal monetary support will be needed to get the service going again.

Local and state officials along the former route of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans have cited the increased commerce and job creation that rail service could bring.

The incoming Trump administration has spoken about pushing a plan to improve the nation’s infrastructure and restoration of Gulf Coast rail passenger service might be a part of that.

However, congressional leaders have said that an infrastructure development plan will not be among the priorities of the first 100 days of the 115^th Congress, which convened this past week.