Mobile reaches agreement with Amtrak on funding, lease at station site

MOBILE, Ala. — Amtrak appears to be on the verge of an agreement with the City of Mobile that finally will allow Gulf Coast passenger service to move forward.

WALA-TV reports that a spokeswoman for Mayor Sandy Stimpson said the city and Amtrak had finalized language for a funding agreement for Mobile-New Orleans service and a lease needed for the train’s station stop in Mobile, and that a city councilman who had previously opposed funding now says he will support that agreement. That change appears to be enough to give the funding the five votes needed for council approval.

Councilman Josh Woods told the station his change reflects his belief that the city will not be responsible for its share of the service’s operating subsidy beyond the initial three-year agreement, saying, “We’re not intending to be on the hook for Amtrak for the rest of our lives.”

Mobile was left in the atypical position being asked to provide $3.048 million in operating funding when Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey opposed funding, unlike the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. But Stimpson, noting that the launch of Amtrak service would bring some $223 million in route improvements that would remain even if Amtrak service did not, helped negotiate a deal that will see the Port of Mobile provide $1 million. The state has indicated a willingness to also provide funding, although it has yet to make a specific commitment [see “Mobile, port, and Alabama strike tentative deal …,” Trains News Wire, June 11, 2024, and “Alabama port authority votes to help fund Amtrak service,” News Wire, June 19, 2024].

Amtrak welcomed the latest development in the long-running saga, with Ray Lang, Amtrak vice president, state supported services, saying in a statement, “We appreciate the leadership of Mayor Stimpson and the work by his staff to bring us this far. We’ve listened closely to the mayor and city council and this agreement is the result of that collaborative process.

“We also thank the Port of Mobile for agreeing to help carry the first three years of Alabama funding, together with the city.

“We will support the Southern Rail Commission in Montgomery, Jackson, and Baton Rouge in seeking state funding for future years of service.

“Amtrak will work with the Port and our other railroad partners, CSX and Norfolk Southern, to carry out the track upgrades and other improvements needed to start Amtrak service as soon as possible. This will benefit everyone in the communities we will serve by both passenger and freight trains.”

Some $178 million in the route improvements for the Gulf Coast service will be funded through a Federal Railroad Administration Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant awarded in September 2023. The 12 projects covered by the grant include two of significance in the Mobile area: a 14,100-foot addition to an existing siding to create a section of second main near the Mobile station site and 5,500 feet of new and refurbished track connecting CSX’s Choctaw Yard and the Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks facilities at Garrow’s Bend. The latter is meant to reduce the possibility of conflicts with Amtrak trains by improving access to an intermodal facility and a coal terminal [see “Gulf Coast grant application details planned infrastructure projects,” News Wire, Dec. 24, 2022.] But work on those projects cannot begin until agreements to finalize the start of service are in place.