More than a year after announcing that it had struck a deal to restore passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast, Amtrak trains have yet to return to the rails east of New Orleans.

In late 2022, Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, the Southern Rail Commission and the Port of Mobile, Ala., announced a plan to spend $223 million on improvements to the rail line between New Orleans and Mobile as part of an effort to return passenger trains to the route in 2023. In early 2023, Amtrak even began qualifying crews to run the route.