MOBILE, Ala. — It has been a long wait for the launch of Amtrak’s Gulf Coast service. Clearly, some people can’t wait to take a trip.
A day after the start date for service was announced and tickets went on sale, the first regular run of Amtrak Mardi Gras Service in each direction on Aug. 18 were sold out, WALA-TV reports.
While tickets are gone for those initial trains— a 6:30 a.m. departure from Mobile to New Orleans, and a 7:35 a.m. train from New Orleans to Mobile — as of 6 p.m. today (Thursday, July 3) seats remain available for the afternoon trains on the 18th in each direction, with coach tickets from Mobile to New Orleans at $46 (business class is sold out) and tickets from New Orleans to Mobile starting at $24 ($86 for business class). Tickets also remain available for all other trips during the first week.
The station also reported that it had received complaints from viewers that, while the announcement of service promoted fares as low as $15, they had been unable to find them. But the station showed a screen shot from the Amtrak website of $15 fares available on Aug. 20, the third day of service, as of the afternoon of Wednesday, July 2. Today’s News Wire check shows $15 tickets available in both directions on Aug. 19 and 20; $24 seats on Thursday, Aug. 21; and $30 tickets on Friday through Sunday.
Because Amtrak uses dynamic pricing, where fares rise according to demand, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told WALA, “I would not expect to see fares such as these on weekends.”
Amtrak announced the start date, schedules, and ticket prices on Tuesday [see “Amtrak to launch …,” News Wire, July 1, 2025]. The start of the train will cap a saga to initiate operations that stretches over almost 10 years [see “Fare, schedule, and equipment …,” News Wire, July 1, 2025].
That’s certainly a captivating picture of the ambiance offered for this “dynamic” travel option.
Wonder if CSX got all the improvements they sought?
Am I seeing that pic correctly? Is that two locomotives with just one coach in between, or is one loco just a cab unit???
Either way, one would think that a modern day doodlebug or RDC would be a better cost effective option for Amtrak.
That is the set up to qualify T&E crew. Easy to swap ends to go back to NOL.
Once the railfans, quit the initial surge, we’ll see how needed this service is. Greyhound is faster and somewhat cheaper for the common traveler.
And if you don’t run much equipment in each train set because you don’t have much to begin with, easier to sell out!
“Because Amtrak uses dynamic pricing, where fares rise according to demand, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari told WALA, “I would not expect to see fares such as these on weekends.”
Let me fix that for him…. “I would not expect to see fares such as these based on your IP address”
Absolutely fantastic news for Amtrak!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün