Southern Rail Commission Requests Funds for NOLA-Orlando Rail Restoration Study

[JFman00]

Grant would fund study of New Orleans-Orlando rail service

The Southern Rail Commission has applied for a $1 million federal grant to study the feasibility of restoring passenger train service between New Orleans and Orlando in central Florida.

Southern Rail Commission applies for $1 million TIGER grant for feasibility study of passenger rail along U.S. Gulf Coast

The Southern Rail Commission, an organization advocating for the restoration and extension of a passenger rail service running through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, applied for funds for the cause and has launched a new website featuring updates on its initiatives.

The commission is applying for $1 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER grant money to commission a study on the feasibility of intermodal needs for restoring a passenger rail for daily service along the U.S. Gulf Coast that was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, and extend it between the three states.

SRC said in a statement that the funds would be used to determine the most advantageous station locations, capital needs, examine transportation gaps and establish potential funding sources for the project that's been in the works since the early 1980s. It would also prepare a final report that recommends the restoration of the passenger rail service from New Orleans to Orlando, Fla.

[ProjectMaximus]

I fear for Ock's heart when he sees this...

[Ocklawaha]

They've got to win the grant first... maybe at best. Then they've got to run the studies... a year or two.  Then they've got to find an interested operator, Amtrak? NOT LIKELY. Iowa Pacific, could be but we'll have to get there first. Otherwise, running that train overnight through the panhandle and gulf coast of AL, MS, LA is about as dumb as a bag of hammers. If you've only got one train each way daily on a 12-15 hour schedule, you better make it during prime time and not at 2am.