Minutes before the Amtrak Mardi Gras Service was scheduled to depart Mobile at 6:30 a.m. Monday, a CSX freight train rolled up alongside the passenger train and stopped.

It was followed shortly by another freight train thundering through the city—almost on cue—offering a striking visual metaphor for why it took nearly 20 years to bring passenger rail back to the Gulf Coast.

Amtrak Mardi Gras, a three-car train now running twice daily between Mobile and New Orleans, was delayed 17 minutes on its inaugural run with paying passengers as the freight train from the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley barreled past northbound.

“There will be some teething issues as we have Amtrak trains out here for the first time in 20 years on a daily basis,” said Marc Magliari, spokesperson for Amtrak. “Dispatcher

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