Rail Passengers CEO Jim Mathews Issues Mardi Gras Statement

For Immediate Release (25-07)
Contact: Joe Aiello ([email protected])

Rail Passengers CEO Jim Mathews Issues Congratulations Following Mardi Gras Service Launch

Washington, D.C. – Rail Passengers Association President & CEO Jim Mathews issued the following statement in response to the formal announcement of the resumption of Amtrak service between New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala. :

“Our Association would like to congratulate everyone involved in this long, drawn-out, sometimes painful process to restore service between New Orleans and Mobile some two decades after Hurricane Katrina led to suspension of the Sunset Limited.

Rail Passengers has been working during that entire time to make this happen, and endured many setbacks. Although this whole process has taken far too long, that struggle makes us all the more grateful to Amtrak, the Port of Mobile, and the City of Mobile — particularly Mayor Sandy Stimpson — for being willing to return to the negotiating table last year, for as many times as it took, to get this project across the finish line.

America’s rail passengers also owe enormous thanks to the Southern Rail Commission, now under the leadership of Mississippi’s Knox Ross, and to former Amtrak Chair and Merdian, Miss., mayor John Robert Smith, for keeping at least a flicker going for this restoration even when it looked nearly hopeless.

Finally, let’s also stop to acknowledge that the long-feuding parties in this saga – Norfolk Southern, CSX, Amtrak, and the Port of Mobile – two years ago finally found a way to negotiate an agreement that worked out for everyone. We continue to believe that this cooperation among Class I railroads and Amtrak could, and should, be a model for introducing new service everywhere else in the U.S. where we desperately need it.

While it’s true that it may have taken a formal Surface Transportation Board enforcement proceeding to move this along, it’s also true that the real breakthrough came when personalities at the top changed and became more willing to engage in good-faith business negotiations. We wound up not with a regulatory order but instead with a business deal. And thanks to that deal, soon Gulf Coast residents and visitors will get the chance to take train and enjoy everything the Gulf has to offer. It’s the power of good-faith negotiations, and I’ll take that every single time.”

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About the Rail Passengers Association: with 127,000 members, donors, and supporters, the Rail Passengers Association is the oldest and largest national organization serving as a voice for the more than 40 million rail passengers in the U.S. Our mission is to improve and expand conventional intercity and regional passenger train services, support higher speed rail initiatives, increase connectivity among all forms of transportation, and ensure safety for our country's trains and passengers. All of this makes communities safer, more accessible, and more productive, improving the lives of everyone who lives, works, and plays in towns all across America.