MOBILE, Ala. — The start for Amtrak Gulf Coast service remains to be determined, but Amtrak trains will begin operating on the route between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans this week.
Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 8, crew-training runs with Amtrak locomotives and cars will begin, with the first crew set to mark up in Mobile at 9 a.m. Because the trains are operating as extras, it is not known when they will actually depart Mobile or be elsewhere on the 144-mile route.
Concurrent with the start of crew qualification, Amtrak, the Southern Rail Commission, and the Operation Lifesaver safety campaign are beginning public-education events about the presence of passenger trains on the route, beginning Wednesday in Pascagoula, Miss., and Gulfport, Miss. — two of the stations where platforms have been upgraded in preparation for the start of service. Those events are set for 10 a.m. in Pascagoula and noon in Gulfport; while they have been timed for possible inclusion of the crew-qualification train, they will be held at those times whether or not the train is available.
The crew qualification runs will continue for several months.
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