Amtrak Mardi Gras Service Drives Gulf Coast Demand

Amtrak Mardi Gras Service is delivering strong demand and very happy customers on Amtrak’s newest Gulf Coast corridor between New Orleans and Mobile.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Over the first 108 days of service since the Aug. 18 launch, customers have taken more than 46,000 trips on the twice-daily round trips across Coastal Mississippi, according to Amtrak’s official performance update.

Amtrak Mardi Gras Service on the New Orleans–Mobile Gulf Coast

At a public meeting of the Amtrak Board of Directors in New Orleans, company leaders reported that this New Orleans–Mobile Gulf Coast train service is gaining customers at a rapid pace, a trend also noted by Railway Supply in its coverage of the route.

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Amtrak Board Chairman Anthony “Tony” Coscia said early performance is outpacing expectations, explaining that the service is well on track to double the original ridership estimate and that demand remains very high across the Amtrak network.

Executive Vice President Jennifer Mitchell stressed that the Mardi Gras Service reflects close cooperation with partners in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. She credited cities and communities along the route for embracing the trains more quickly than anyone had predicted and underlined the contribution of three regional tourism agencies and the Southern Rail Commission in supporting this state-sponsored service.

Top customer satisfaction and on-time performance

Customer satisfaction scores for the Mardi Gras trains have already risen to the very top of all Amtrak services. Amtrak attributes these results to the work of train and engine crews, on-board service staff and maintenance teams, thanks to whom 96 percent of customers say they are “extremely satisfied” with their trips. During the annual public board meeting, Amtrak board members, management and the audience applauded the employees behind these scores.

Reliability is another factor helping the Amtrak Mardi Gras Service resonate with travelers. With steady operations over the CSX, Norfolk Southern and New Orleans Public Belt railroads, more than 86 percent of customers arrive on time, giving the route one of the strongest on-time performance scores in the Amtrak system. Even on the days when trains between New Orleans and Mobile are delayed, almost 90 percent of customers still report that they are extremely satisfied with their journeys.

Carnival season, tourism and regional sponsors

Over the first 108 days of operation, the two daily round trips between Mobile and New Orleans have carried an average of more than 420 customers each day, illustrating how Coastal Mississippi tourism and rail service are working together along this corridor. Mitchell pointed out that thousands of trips have shifted from I-10 and US-90 onto the train, reducing part of the travel load on busy Gulf Coast highways.

She also noted that the usual pattern of softer ridership in the first quarter of the calendar year has not applied to this corridor. Strong numbers for the route and the Mardi Gras name are combining with Carnival and Mardi Gras parades along the Gulf Coast to keep demand high.

In Mobile, more than 40 festival parades are planned, with the first stepping off on Jan. 30. In New Orleans, Krewes start even earlier, launching parades on Jan. 6. Carnival runs along the Mardi Gras Service route through Fat Tuesday on Feb. 17, with celebrations in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula.

The Mardi Gras Service is sponsored by the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, together with the City of Mobile, in cooperation with the Southern Rail Commission.

Customers can book now at Amtrak.com/MardiGras, through Amtrak mobile apps, at the New Orleans ticket counter or by calling 800-USA-RAIL, and can find more about what is happening along the route at NewOrleans.com, CoastalMississippi.com and Mobile.org.

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