Excitement surrounded the Amtrak Inspection train as it arrived in Pensacola on Friday morning. Supporters gathered at the Pensacola train station, located on East Heinberg Street, while holding signs both welcoming the incoming train and asking Amtrak to come back to the area.
As part of a two-day trip, Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission invited local dignitaries, industry representatives, community leaders and media to board an Amtrak inspection train on a tour which would examine the existing CSX railroad infrastructure with a possibility of expanding transportation services between New Orleans and Jacksonville.
Milton Mayor Wesley Meiss was one of several Santa Rosa County elected officials to board the train in Pensacola. Meiss hopes Amtrak will consider reestablishing Amtrak’s ‘Sunset Limited’ route, which came to an end following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“Anything that brings people to Northwest Florida, I think is a win-win situation,” Meiss said.
Adding more stops in the area would also benefit local businesses, according to Kay and Terry Krauskopf who were welcoming Amtrak on behalf of Sunshine Express Tours in Pensacola.
Kay said adding stops along route would provide another “added element” to the business which provides motor coach, flight and cruise travel packages.
“It would decrease costs, we could catch (the train) here and go to New Orleans and catch from that rail and move on up,” she said.
While many are hopeful for the restoration of passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast, others believe the service simply isn’t feasible due to cost.
“I think this is a one-time thing,” said Art Tuttle, President of the West Florida Railroad Museum, Inc. “The federal government is not going to fund this 100 percent, it is going to require some state support. With the funding situations in Alabama. Mississippi, and Florida, there is no state legislature that going vote a dime to allow that passage of train.”
The Amtrak inspection train tour is part of a $325 million transportation bill recently passed by the U.S. Senate which included $500,000 to study restoring the dormant Sunset Limited Amtrak route along the Gulf Coast, according to AL.com.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Amtrak Inspection Train makes way through Pensacola, Milton