Amtrak releases date, schedules and cost of trains to New Orleans and Mobile
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- Amtrak Gulf Coast service starts Aug. 18 with tickets now available for purchase.
- Trains connect New Orleans and Mobile with stops in four South Mississippi cities.
- Fares start at $15 with discounts for children, students, veterans and groups.
It will be a Mardi Gras celebration every day across South Mississippi for many when Amtrak passenger train service returns to the Gulf Coast, connecting with New Orleans and Mobile.
Amtrak Mardi Gras Service starts Aug. 18, Amtrak announced Tuesday, and tickets are available.
Here are the details:
Prices: Adult coach fares end-to-end from New Orleans to Mobile start at $15 each way, with lower fares for shorter distances.
Discounts: Everyday discounts are offered for children ages 2-12, students, seniors, veterans, military personnel and families, and groups.
Children ages 2-12 ride half-price every day and infants under age 2 are free.
Seniors age 65 and over can save 10% on most trains.
Active duty US military, their spouses and their dependents all save 10%, along with military veterans.
Multi-ride discounts are available for frequent riders.
Stations: Amtrak will make brief stops at four stations in South Mississippi: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula, as trains run between New Orleans and Mobile.
Amenities: These Amtrak trains offer coach and business class. Trains have wide reclining seats with ample legroom, no middle seats, free Wi-Fi, and generous carry-on baggage allowances. With space reserved in advance, golf bags will be accepted and pets will be welcomed in carriers and within appropriate weights.
Refreshments: Café service menu will feature locally sourced foods.
Connections: From New Orleans, passengers can ride Amtrak’s City of New Orleans trains between New Orleans and Chicago via Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, and next-day connections in New Orleans to Amtrak Crescent trains to and from New York via Atlanta, and Amtrak Sunset Limited trains to and from Los Angeles via Tucson, San Antonio and Houston.
“We encourage customers to get their tickets now to experience this new, comfortable, and scenic service, and have the first opportunity to travel by train on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in nearly 20 years,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “Guests can plan travel for football trips this fall, for November and December holiday travel — and even Mardi Gras season next year.”
Schedule
Daily schedule for eastbound and westbound trains, which begin running on Aug. 18.
Westbound morning
Mobile: 6:30 a.m.
Pascagoula: 7:13 a.m.
Biloxi: 7:48 a.m.
Gulfport: 8:11 a.m.
Bay St Louis: 8:42 a.m.
New Orleans: 10:13 a.m.
Westbound evening
Mobile: 4:30 p.m.
Pascagoula: 5:13 p.m.
Biloxi: 5:48 p.m
Gulfport: 6:11 p.m.
Bay St. Louis: 6:42 p.m.
New Orleans: 8:13 p.m.
Eastbound morning
New Orleans: 7:35 a.m.
Bay St. Louis: 8:57 a.m.
Gulfport: 9:29 a.m.
Biloxi: 9:53 a.m.
Pascagoula: 10:27 a.m.
Mobile: 11:18 a.m.
Eastbound evening
New Orleans: 5:31 p.m.
Bay St. Louis: 6:58 p.m.
Gulfport: 7:30 p.m.
Bioxi: 7:54 p.m.
Pascagoula: 8:26 p.m.
Mobile: 9:14 p.m.
Timetables are posted on the Amtrak website.
Party time
“Finally” was the word of the day as Amtrak officials stopped Tuesday at every city that will have a train platform.
It’s just coincidence that the launch of service on Aug. 18 coincides with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, said Amtrak Vice President Nicole Bucich. “That was not by design. We’ve been working on this for years, and this is just how it worked out,” she said of the return of passenger train service.
An “estimated guess” is 69,000 people will ride the Mardi Gras line annually, said Marc Magliari with Amtrak Corporate Communications, but the latest line to launch in Minnesota and Illinois far surpassed estimates.
Coastal Mississippi, which promotes tourism across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, launched a dedicated web page to help draw attention to the service and the festival weekends and special events, the beaches, restaurants and attractions in South Mississippi.
“This isn’t just a transportation milestone; it’s a transformative opportunity to drive tourism growth across our entire region,” said Judy Young, CEO of Coastal Mississippi Tourism.
Celebrations were held all along the route Tuesday, starting at 8 a.m. in Mobile and continuing across the Coast to New Orleans. In Pascagoula, where the station is being restored. Mayor Jay Willis said to think back to the 120 years of life that the station had and the thousands of people from the Coast who boarded the train and went all over the world — right from Pascagoula.
Sun Herald photographer Hannah Ruhoff contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 8:18 AM.
