Will Isern

wisern@pnj.com

An Amtrak passenger train departing from New Orleans will make a stop in Pensacola Feb. 19 on its way to Jacksonville as part of a test run to gauge the feasibility of bringing passenger rail back to the Gulf Coast.

On board the so-called "inspection train" will be Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman, along with elected officials and industry representatives from across the Gulf Coast. The train will depart New Orleans at 8:45 a.m. Feb. 18 making 10-minute stops in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, Pascagoula in Mississippi, and Mobile, Ala. and then on to Atmore, Ala., where the passengers will stay the night at the Wind Creek Casino while the train continues on to Pensacola.

Gulf Coast train travel may get back on track

Passengers will be bused to Pensacola the next morning for an 8 a.m. departure. The train will then pass through Crestview, Chipley and Tallahassee on its way to Jacksonville.

The inspection train is being run in partnership between Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission. Amtrak completed and presented a study to the SRC last month that looked at three options for restoring rail service along the Gulf Coast, two of which included stops in Pensacola.

Now, the SRC is urging Amtrak "to move forward with whatever is necessary" to implement an option from that study that would see daily, round-trip service between New Orleans and Orlando, including a stop in Pensacola, said SRC Chairman Greg White.

"This is a necessary trip because it allows the freight rail CSX and Amtrak to come together to observe and inventory the needs along the route," White said. "So this is a necessary undertaking from that perspective, so the rest of generating support and enthusiasm piggybacks along that effort."

White said the possibility of reestablishing passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast within three to five years is a "very realistic estimate." Mayor Ashton Hayward has said he supports the return of passenger rail service, so long as it is cost-feasible.

"We're all for it if it can work," Hayward said earlier this month.

The Amtrak report estimates that a Gulf Coast line like the SRC is asking for could produce an annual ridership of between 138,300 and 153,900 and generate annual revenue between $12.25 and $12.72 million.

Money to pay for an established line — because Amtrak would have to lease the lines from freight-train operator CSX Transportation — would come from local, state and federal sources. Amtrak, created by Congress in 1970, owns only the lines in its profitable Northeast corridor and uses subsidies from states in which it operates to fill the gap between revenue from passengers and federal funds.

Restored service could give riders access to the transcontinental Sunset Limited line that runs three days a week from New Orleans to Los Angeles, Silver Star lines that run up the Eastern Seaboard and other established lines.

Passenger rail service hasn't been seen in Pensacola since the Sunset Limited Line closed east of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Despite the discontinuation of service, Pensacola Station, the one-sided train platform at 980 E. Heinberg St., still stands.

Karl Etters of the Tallahassee Democrat contributed to this report.