(KHLA – Lake Charles, Louisiana) – The eagerly anticipated Amtrak “Mardi Gras Service”, a twice-daily passenger train that will run between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans with stops along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, is launching today.
After being out of service since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the passenger rail route has now resumed operations throughout the Gulf Coast.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said of the new service:
You’re avoiding I-10. You’re avoiding people who are next to you driving and yakking on the phone or smoking or shaving or putting on hair products. Or a big truck filling your rearview mirror. You can be productive while you’re traveling.
Trains will arrive in New Orleans at 10:30 a.m. and 8:13 p.m., after leaving Mobile at 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m…