Since its launch in August, Amtrak’s restored Gulf Coast line has carried passengers through marshlands and mossy woods more than 46,000 times — a turnout that the Southern Rail Commission called “one of the most successful service launches in Amtrak’s history.”
Between opening day and December, the route, christened the Mardi Gras service, carried an average of more than 420 people per day between New Orleans and Mobile, with stops in Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Gulfport and Pascagoula.
Amtrak had projected about 71,000 passengers in the line’s first year. Now, it expects roughly twice that number, according to Anthony Coscia, the railroad’s board chairman…