Partial excerpt from the New Orleans newspaper Times-Picayune, reported this afternoon. See www.nola.com or try http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09_29.html#083767 Twice-daily rail service between B.R./N.O. considered Thursday, 4:14 p.m. By Matt Scallan Staff Writer A group of rail and mass transit organizations hopes to begin twice-daily rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The proposal, which involves asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to subsidize the service to the tune of at least $25 million over three years, is designed to allow New Orleans residents who have relocated to Baton Rouge to get back to work, as well as ease gridlock on I-10, said Cleo Allen a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation and Development. "We believe that this is a way to help the people from New Orleans who moved to Baton Rouge get back to work while the housing situation works itself out," Allen said. ....... The initial plan involves running two commuter trains per day between the two cities, starting at the Kansas City Southern rail depot near Memorial Stadium in Baton Rouge and running to the Union Passenger Terminal in downtown New Orleans, Allen said. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita damaged some of the track that runs across the LaBranche Wetlands in St. Charles Parish, but railroad officials say repairs should be finished soon. The group making the proposal includes Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans, Amtrak, the Capital Area Transit System, which operates the bus system in Baton Rouge, the KCS Railroad, the DOTD and Amtrak. RTA spokeswoman Rosiland Blanco Cook said the agency is "very interested" in the concept and has been holding discussions with all parties. ..... Allen said the trains could be scheduled around scheduled freight runs on existing tracks. The RTA and CATS would re-route buses to bring passengers to the terminals. "This is something that we could put into place very quickly," she said. Each train would have a capacity of 600 passengers. Details of the plan, including fares and specific schedules, have not been determined, but Allen said stops in places such as Gonzales and Reserve also are being considered. +++++++++++++++++++++ Interesting possibility. We'll see what happens. Regards
Could have some interesting possibilities. Needs a careful look first. Will it last in the long term? Or will the target ridership slowly migrate back to Norlins? Hope there's no mad dash to throw my scarce tax money around. Boxcab E50
