Amtrak still no go in Panhandle

Amtrak shut down service between Orlando and New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the central Gulf Coast in August 2005. And while its management is discussing reopening the train line with the Florida Department of Transportation, there are no plans to have rail service in any time soon.

The Panama City News Herald reports:

For this holiday season, people living in the Southeast again won’t be able to consider Amtrak as a mode of transportation, at least for the New Orleans-to-Orlando route and stops in between.

Marc Magliari, a Chicago-based Amtrak spokesman, said Monday that corporate management still is discussing with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission, which represents Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, possibilities for reopening the rail line.

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Author: Rick Outzen

Rick Outzen is the publisher/owner of Pensacola Inweekly. He has been profiled in The New York Times and featured in several True Crime documentaries. Rick also is the author of the award-winning Walker Holmes thrillers. His latest nonfiction book is “Right Idea, Right Time: The Fight for Pensacola’s Maritime Park.”