The Mobile City Council’s decision on whether to subsidize the revival of an Amtrak connection to New Orleans, bringing passenger rail back to the Port City for the first time in 19 years, could have a much bigger financial impact than the $3.1 million city taxpayers are being asked to contribute.
According to the head of the Southern Rail Commission, if the council declines to support the operations of the Gulf Coast line, it could jeopardize federal grant money that has been earmarked toward the project.
“Mobile has to do it or it’s over,” said Knox Ross, chairman of the SRC. “We can’t go back for another year or two and say, ‘we’ll try to get the Alabama match.’ Everyone has made a commitment. The future of the train rests on the city council deciding if it’s important.”
A council vote against the agreements could also jeopardize a significant federal investment into the Alabama State Port Authority that is part of a negotiated settlement involving multiple parties in the Gulf Coast rail project pending before the U.S. Surface and Transportation Board.
“The Port remains supportive of implementing the grant as it serves both freight and passenger needs,” said Maggie Oliver, spokesperson with the Alabama State Port Authority.
The council is not expected to vote on any of the agreements until next month.
Several grants have been dedicated toward the project in recent years, including a $178.4 million federal grant awarded last fall to Amtrak for improvements along the Gulf Coast. That money was allocated to prepare for the return of passenger rail to the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Those improvements include grade crossing and traffic signal improvements, and station upgrades along the Gulf Coast rail line currently used by freight operators, CSX and Norfolk Southern.
The $3 million is considered a match to a Restoration and Enhancement (R&E) grant program administered by the Federal Railroad Administration. That grant was dedicated toward the project in 2020. The FRA, which also administers the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program, awarded that grant to Amtrak last fall.
Council concerns
That agreement led to a series of negotiations between Amtrak and the City of Mobile over a lease for the utilization of a portion of the parking lot near Cooper Riverside Park to serve as a train stop.
But what has not occurred are direct talks between Amtrak and the seven members of the Mobile City Council, whose vote could determine the fate of the project. The project has been part of an exhaustively planned and debated twice-daily Amtrak service between Mobile and New Orleans, with four stops in coastal Mississippi. The entire route has been mothballed along the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina damaged the rail line in 2005.
At least three members of the council say they have concerns about the operations subsidy, which amounts to $3 million over the course of three years. It’s the same exact amount the Mobile City Council voted to support with a 6-1 vote in early 2020.
Four of those council members are no longer serving. The council’s sole “No” vote came from Councilman Joel Daves, who remains a vocal opponent of the project. Two council newcomers – Ben Reynolds and Josh Woods – are also expressing concerns, particularly as to why the city budget, and not the state, is being asked to support the project.
The council will need five of its seven members to approve the operations subsidy and the lease agreement.
“If the state doesn’t want to participate, then why should we as a city?” said Reynolds. “The states of Mississippi and Louisiana are participating. We’re a medium-sized municipality and should not be on the hook of supporting Amtrak at any rate.”
Said Woods, “I don’t want to be tied to a perpetual funding of Amtrak in order to have it here in the city.”
Contributions
Alabama state lawmakers have never made a financial contribution to support the project. State officials, including Gov. Kay Ivey, have largely been critical of the project in the past, particularly over how the addition of passenger trains might adversely affect the Alabama State Port Authority, which operates a rail yard north of downtown Mobile.
Ross said lawmakers in Mississippi and Louisiana agreed to the $3 million matching funds to support the operations of the train. Mississippi also contributed $13 million to support the CRISI grant, and Louisiana spent an additional $6 million, Ross said. Alabama has not spent anything.
Ross said in Mobile, the plan is to remove the financial burden off the city after the initial three-year investment.
“We have much better relationships (with Alabama state officials),” Ross said, adding that for some time, the City of Mobile was “the only party in Alabama” willing to discuss the project.
Ross said relationships in Alabama are improving in the aftermath of a November 2022 agreement in a case before the STB involving Amtrak, the Port Authority, CSX and Norfolk Southern. Those four entities were engaged in a high-profile and sometimes contentious litigation before the federal board over the fate of the Gulf Coast project, and which generate widespread interest over the future of passenger rail over freight lines operated throughout the United States.
That SRC case is still pending and will not be closed until Amtrak finalizes the project agreements in Mobile. The first of those agreements occurred on May 6, when the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustments granted a special exception to allow Amtrak to build the passenger train depot.
Negotiations
Amtrak called the moment as a “milestone,” but city officials have since said that much more work is needed before the deals in Mobile are finalized.
Candace Cooksey, a spokesperson for Stimpson, said Amtrak is not likely to come before the council for a decision on the lease and/or the operation subsidy until after the first of June.
She said there are still negotiations ongoing between the mayor’s office and Amtrak. She said one unresolved matter is making sure everyone involved in the talks is “comfortable” about the service, and that a study is eventually conducted on eventual expansion of the route.
Cooksey said the land use agreement needs to include language regarding a future study of expanded Amtrak service north of downtown Mobile that would take the train into Atmore and Pensacola. Cooksey said that route had been part of Amtrak’s plans, but Amtrak has not publicly indicated any interest in operating the Gulf Coast route beyond downtown Mobile.
This story was updated with additional information provided by the Federal Railroad Administration on Friday, May 17, 2024.
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