BATON ROUGE – It has been nearly 56 years since Baton Rouge had passenger train service, and with the opening of the Mardi Gras Line, there is already talk of expansion within Amtrak.
“The opportunity is there to try and connect the two largest cities, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, in the state. Of course, everyone knows we have LSU football games and the New Orleans Saints,” State Rep. Dixon McMakin said.
In 1969, the Southern Belle made its last pass through Baton Rouge. The Kansas City Southern Railroad abandoned the line when it was no longer profitable. The New Orleans to Mobile line disappeared after Hurricane Katrina…