BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Mardi Gras made a late comeback this year with celebrations in four cities across South Mississippi. Hues of green, purple and gold could be seen from Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula as Amtrak made its inaugural run of its Mardi Gras passenger rail service line.

Amtrak’s locomotive pulled into The Bay just after nine o’clock Saturday morning -- 15 minutes ahead of schedule. High school band members played along with the blowing of the train’s horn, while people cheered as special guests disembarked.

Ask any of the train riders on Saturday, and they will tell you: this has been a long time coming.

“We all gathered together for a practice run 9 years ago -- 2016. It’s taken that long. Really, nine and a half years, for this finally to be a reality. That’s too long, but

See Full Page