Amtrak runs Baton Rouge-New Orleans inspection train

BATON ROUGE, La. — A decades-long effort to create a Louisiana passenger rail corridor between the state capital of Baton Rouge and New Orleans moved a step closer Wednesday when Gov. John Bel Edwards joined Amtrak, federal, and railroad officials on an inspection run along the route.

Among those joining the governor, a Democrat, were Amit Bose, Federal Railroad Administration administrator; Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel and his Kansas City Southern counterpart, Pat Ottensmeyer; and Amtrak President Stephen Gardner.

The 12-car KCS consist reprises colors of the route’s last scheduled passenger train, the Southern Belle, which made its final run in 1969. The event was especially significant, because attempts to conduct passenger inspection trips on the 80-mile Baton Rouge-New Orleans route had been rebuffed for more than 20 years.

Canadian Pacific’s intent to allow one round trip between the two cities without any infrastructure improvements was a part of its pitch for merger approval [see “Canadian Pacific commits to New Orleans-Baton Rouge passenger train …” Trains News Wire, Dec. 8, 2021].

Video makes clear the inspection train didn’t set any speed records, though the pace was also designed so the executives could get a good look at the right-of-way from the rear theatre car. One of the notable improvements needed eventually will be a new bridge over the Bonne Carre Spillway west of where the KCS line joins the Canadian National route used by the City of New Orleans.

Before departing Baton Rouge, Edwards said, “It was only a few weeks ago that we made the request, and the fact that it happened so quickly speaks volumes to the commitment to this link in particular” by the railroad and FRA executives.

The governor also noted that if the merger is approved, “there will be the opportunity for a long-distance passenger train as well, across northern Louisiana that would link Dallas to Atlanta and on to New York.” Amtrak had planned to operate an inspection train over the joint Norfolk Southern-KCS’s Meridian Speedway in 2016 along with the New Orleans-Jacksonville, Fla., trip, but KCS blocked the move at the time.

The Southern Rail Commission’s collection of civic leaders has been the driving force in promoting that split of the Crescent at Meridian, Miss., and along the Gulf Coast, but the compact got its start in 1983 as the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama Rapid Rail Transit Commission with the intent to develop a Baton Rouge-New Orleans-Mobile, Ala., corridor.

The efforts gained support in 2009, but then-Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) rejected President Barack Obama’s federal rail infrastructure money. Although a 2014 study by consultant HNTB prescribed investments that could get service started for $260 million, the state never applied for federal grants the way Mississippi has in getting New Orleans-Mobile service restarted.

Trains News Wire reached out to Louisiana Transportation Secretary Dr. Shawn Wilson’s office several times over the past year for a progress report, but no grants have been submitted.

Wilson was aboard the inspection train and spoke before it left Baton Rouge. In a press release he says, “Last year, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will allocate nearly $6 billion to infrastructure projects in Louisiana. This historic investment from the Biden Administration will aid the state in making the first steps to make intercity rail from Baton Rouge to New Orleans a reality. We have missed the train once before and this governor has been very clear on the matter that we will not miss it again on his watch.”