For the first time in nearly 30 years, a passenger train service between New Orleans and Mobile will chug along the Gulf Coast again, thanks to a yearslong effort by Amtrak to revive a long-stalled train route between the two cities.

The route, called the Mardi Gras Service, begins Saturday and will offer two daily departures with four stops along the Gulf Coast: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. Travel time will be about four hours, with tickets starting at $15 each way.

The service marks a return of Gulf Coast Limited , a route that started in 1996 but ended nine months later due to limited stops and troubles with state funding. Relaunching just days before the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the revived route signals the region's economic and infrastructural pro

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