Tuesday was a day to celebrate in Mobile, Alabama, as officials broke ground to begin the long-awaited restoration of the railway route between Mobile and New Orleans. The shovels hitting the mound of dirt marked a new beginning and hopefully a resurgence for the cities on this route: Mobile, Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulf Port, and New Orleans.

The Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement Project will bring back Amtrak’s passenger train travel between these two Southern port cities for the first time since 2005 when the rails on this route were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.