Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Train Service Begins August 18, 2025

Storyboard
Written By Ellis Anderson

The Raw Oyster Marching Club and dozens of costumed residents turned out to celebrate the return of Amtrak to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Photo by Gregg Martel

 July 2025

On July 1, a progressive series of press conferences moved across the coast of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, when Amtrak announced the start date of its long-awaited Mardi Gras train service between Mobile and New Orleans. Tickets for the first day sold out by late afternoon.

- photos by Scott Saltzman, Gregg Martel, Dena Temple, and Ellis Anderson

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Editor’s note: You may check rates and purchase tickets for the Mardi Gras line on the Amtrak website or through the Amtrak app. 

 
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This feature is underwritten in part by the Mardi Gras Museum of Costumes & Culture

French Quarter Journal partnered with The Shoofly Magazine to document the announcement in Mobile, Bay St. Louis and New Orleans. The first conference began at 8am in Mobile, with officials from the Southern Rail Commission (SRC), Amtrak and the city.

The stops on the route

The official schedule. Pricing begins at $15 and averages around $24 for service from New Orleans to Mobile. Ticket are priced in a similar fashion to airline and contingent on date, time and demand.

The new sign in Mobile at the platform. It’s located downtown, between the Convention Center and the cruise ship terminal, with major hotels just a few blocks away. Photo by Ellis Anderson

Center: Knox Ross, head of the Southern Rail Commission to the left of Amtrak's Vice President of Network Development, Nicole Bucich (center), with Mobile mayor Sandy Stimpson on right. They were joined by members of the Mobile city council and Dave Clark (far left), CEO and President of Visit Mobile. Bucich (center) began her remarks by saying the word of the day was, "Finally!" Photo by Ellis Anderson

Knox Ross, chair of the Southern Rail Commission, who has been working for more than a decade to help get this coast service reinstated. Photo by Ellis Anderson

Mobile mayor Sandy Stimpson speaks to reporters afterward. In his formal remarks, Stimpson, who plans to ride the inaugural train, quipped, "I don't know what I was planning to do on August 18, but I know what I'm doing now."

Bryan Fuenmayor, head of Friends of Amtrak - Mobile Alabama, a group that advocated for the train service. The group has grown to nearly 2,000 people. Photo by Ellis Anderson

The Raw Oyster Marching Club, who heralded the train coming through in 2016, was out in full force today for the announcement. Photo by Gregg Martel

The historic Bay St. Louis Depot was packed with festively attired people celebrating the announcement. Photo by Dena Temple

In Bay St. Louis, Ross also noted that SRC commissioner Kay Kell – who's been working on getting rail service across the coast for 30 years - "kept the lights on this [project] when nobody else did... I just want you to remember when that train pulls up, you think of Kay." Kay Kell with Knox Ross, photo by Gregg Martel

Bay St. Louis Mayor Mike Favre, SRC head Knox Ross and SRC Kay Kell. Capture by Gregg Martel

Amtrak's Vice President of Network Development, Nicole Bucich, making remarks in New Orleans, the final stop on the announcement tour.
You can hear an excerpt of her earlier remarks in the video above. Photo by Scott Saltzman

Members of the media awaitng the official announcement. Photo by Scott Saltzman

John Spain of Baton Rouge, vice-chairman of the Southern Rail Commission, makes remarks in New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal on July 1. Photo by Scott Saltzman

Dan Jatres, projects administrator for the City of New Orleans Office of Sustainability Infrastructure. Photo by Scott Saltzman

A brass band was on hand to lead a second line aboard a train open for a media tour. Photo by Scott Saltzman

A brass band was on hand to lead a second line aboard a train open for a media tour. Photo by Scott Saltzman

SRC vice chairman John Spain and chairman Knox Ross speak to members of the media aboard an Amtrak car. Photo by Scott Saltzman

An Amtrak coach car was open for touring, photo by Scott Saltzman

Amtrak business class car, photo by Scott Saltzman

Amtrak club car, photo by Scott Saltzman

Ellis Anderson

Ellis Anderson first came to the French Quarter in 1978 as a young musician and writer.  Eventually, she also became a silversmith and represented local artists as owner of Quarter Moon Gallery, with locations in the Quarter and Bay St. Louis, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  

Her book about the Bay's Katrina experience, Under Surge, Under Siege, was published by University Press of Mississippi and won several awards, including the Eudora Welty Book Prize in 2010 and the Mississippi Library Association's Nonfiction Author's Award for 2011.  Under Surge, Under Siege was also short-listed as nonfiction finalist for the 2012 William Saroyan International Book Prize, Stanford University Libraries.

 In 2011, Anderson founded her first digital publication, the Shoofly Magazine and served as publisher from 2011 - 2022.  She established French Quarter Journal in 2019, where she currently serves as publisher and managing editor.

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