Amtrak wants to explore new passenger train route between Mississippi and North Texas

NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Amtrak and the Southern Railroad Commission said they will apply for federal funds to study passenger rail service between Meridian, Mississippi and Dallas-Fort Worth.

The corridor along Interstate 20 will serve cities such as Jackson, Mississippi, and Monroe and Shreveport, Louisiana. Amtrak said in a press release that this will be a separate section of the Crescent train, which now runs between New York and New Orleans, meaning travelers will be able to take one train from North Texas to Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and New York. York.

Amtrak said the idea had been under consideration for two decades, but President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill allowed for the next step. The money for the research will come from the funds approved in this law.

“This application is the first step in determining the feasibility of this concept and the benefits and challenges, including federal funding commitments, of expanding Amtrak’s service to the I-20 route,” said Amtrak vice president of network development Nicole Bucic.

If the study is approved and the en-route service is found to be justified, Amtrak will seek federal money to pay the start-up costs.

“This could be the first new Amtrak service of its kind in over 25 years, and it will come to an area that has not been served by passenger rail for a long time,” Southern Rail Commission Chairman Knox Ross said in a statement.