Officials in coastal Mississippi are encouraging the Mobile City Council to vote Tuesday in support of bringing Amtrak back to the Gulf Coast.
In Biloxi, the mayor is planning to deliver a “State of the City” speech Thursday encouraging Mobile to “move forward” in support of Amtrak’s return to the coastal region for the first time since 2005. And city officials in Pascagoula and Bay St. Louis are also encouraging for Mobile’s support. The New Orleans-to-Mobile route includes four stops along the way – Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula.
“We think it’s vitally important Mobile votes for it,” said Vincent Creel, city spokesman in Biloxi, where a multi-modal transit center includes a train depot and is raring to accept Amtrak trains where visitors can easily access minor league baseball games and casinos.
“It creates that synergy from New Orleans to Mobile,” Creel said. “It would create a unity for the cities along the Gulf Coast.”
Stephen Burrow, acting mayor with Pascagoula, said Mobile stands to benefit more from the rail line than the smaller cities that are also along it.
“I hope they can find a way to do it,” he said.
Gary Knoblock, councilman at-large in Bay St. Louis, said his coastal region is “all behind it” and is hoping Mobile will come aboard
“I know Alabama has been concerned with the costs and whether it will bring tourists,” he said. “No one really knows until you do something. Unfortunately, you have to spend money to find out. It’s hard to make decision on something like that without knowing for sure something will happen.”
A spokesperson at New Orleans City Hall said that Mayor LaToya Cantrell has “shared her strong support of regional collaboration” with Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and that regardless of the outcome, “remains ready to be a partner on initiatives to grow our region.”
The city of New Orleans views the project as a “necessary step in connecting our region, espeically along the Gulf Coast” and will lead to economic growth, the spokesperson said.
‘Conservative’ projections
Mobile City Councilman Joel Daves speaks during the council's meeting Tuesday, July 2, 2019, at Government Plaza in Mobile, Ala. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).
Indeed, Mobile has concerns that will be discussed at-length during Tuesday’s meeting. The meeting starts at 10:30 a.m. at Government Plaza in downtown Mobile.
Five of the council’s seven members need to vote in support of the resolution, which commits Mobile to a project that will cost up to $3 million over three years starting in the year 2023. That is the year passenger rail trips between New Orleans and Mobile are expected to begin.
Mobile City Councilman Joel Daves, has raised the most concerns about the project over financial projections.
“We represent the city of Mobile and our job is to make a decision that is in the best long-term interest of the 190,000 people in the city of Mobile,” Daves said.
Daves disputes arguments from members of the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) over proposed revenue projections provided by Amtrak that are viewed as “conservative.”
Amtrak’s estimate, labeled by SRC members as a “worst-case scenario,” pegs the rail line operating costs at $7 million per year. This assumes 35,000 annual riders spending $18.33 per trip, generating a total revenue of $700,000. For the three states, the annual operating deficit would be $7.7 million per year, with each state on the hook for $2.3 million.
Mobile is being asked to vote on a commitment ahead of a Feb. 5 application deadline for a crucial federal grant that would help finance train’s operations for its first three years.
SRC representatives argue that estimates are too low, and that the actual costs to take the train will be more than $18.33. They also believe the number of passengers will be higher than 35,000 people per year.
Daves said the city should consider the “conservative” projections pitched by Amtrak. He said that past developments in Mobile – in particular, the GulfQuest Maritime Museum – were developed based on overly optimistic projections.
“How can we have built GulfQuest and not learn our lesson with that experience and that is to be careful,” said Daves. “We should be using conservative numbers. It’s the optimistic revenue numbers that got us into trouble with GulfQuest.”
Daves also believes that once Mobile makes a commitment toward Amtrak, it will become more difficult to pull out of it at a later date.
“If we get to the end of three years, and it wasn’t working out and we wanted to back out of it, we would have the people in the SRC, the riders, the state of Louisiana (and others) all complaining,” said Daves. “Once government makes (and investment) in these services, it’s extremely difficult to unwind from that.”
Mobile, if it commits to the project, would be the only government entity in Alabama to do so. In Mississippi and Louisiana, a combination of state, county and city governments have committed toward the project.
Alabama state government has not done so. The concerns in Alabama stem largely over whether passenger rail would interfere with the Alabama State Port Authority’s business and the freight trains that run through the Port of Mobile.
Railroad station
Mississippi and Louisiana have both committed to operations and capital improvements along the train line. In Alabama, it’s unclear how the capital improvements along the rail line will be finance, and by whom. Also unclear is how much a train station will cost and who would pay for it.
In Pascagoula, for instance, a $400,000 project will be split among the city, state, Jackson County, and the SRC, according to Burrow.
The project will involve the development of a rail platform, but will not include the construction of a new train station nor the rehabilitation of an existing building into a rail station.
“I personally did not push for that because I felt that a depot is unnecessary in this day and age,” said Burrow. “People are buying tickets on their phones, checking in on their phones and the notion of having a full-service depot with baggage handlers is not what is best suited for Pascagoula.”
Another view of a rendering of the proposed train station for downtown Mobile, Ala. The station is slightly elevated to avoid damage from any storm surge-related flooding that might occur at the Mobile waterfront. The renderings were first released during an information hearing on the proposed Gulf Coast Amtrak rail route on Friday, July 12, 2019, at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center in downtown Mobile, Ala. The latest plans call for the construction of the station within the Brookley Aeroplex south of downtown Mobile. (supplied rendering).
The train station proposal in Mobile has, through initial drawings, included a more elaborate facility near Cooper Riverside Park. The location, though, has changed to accommodate concerns from the port authority and its CEO Jimmy Lyons.
The city’s latest plan includes building a new rail station at the Brookley Aeroplex that would be located next to a future commercial airport. The city, through federal funds, is examining whether to shift commercial air service from Mobile Regional Airport closer to downtown at Brookley.
Chris Curry, president of the Mobile Airport Authority, said a train station at Brookley helps add an “intermodal capability” at the new airport.
“We’ve evaluating it in our master plan to see where it could logically go,” said Curry. “We embraced the idea of having the terminal facility at Brookley.”
Marc Magliari, spokesman with Amtrak, said the concept of combining passenger rail stations within commercial airports is becoming more popular. He said there are several international airports – Baltimore, Orange County, Milwaukee, to name a few – where Amtrak trains have stops within bustling airports.
“If that is the direction they are looking at, it’s a popular idea around the country and one we’d like to work with the Airport Authority on,” said Magliari.
Knox Ross, a longtime SRC commissioner and former mayor of Pelahatchie, Miss., said that no matter what Mobile decides on Tuesday, the SRC isn’t abandoning the Gulf Coat rail project.
His comments come after the Washington, D.C.-based Rail Passengers Association, issued a warning on Friday that if the council doesn’t get on board with an endorsement, the entire Gulf Coast project is in jeopardy along with economic investments totaling $170 million
“As far as Mississippi and Louisiana are concerned, we are moving forward,” said Ross. “We want Mobile to go with us. If Alabama is in it, it’s a much more successful service. It’s much more successful.”
This story was updated at 1:04 pm. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, to include comments from the city of New Orleans.