Amtrak's Mardi Gras service has started. Here's what it was like at the Bay St. Louis station.


The Amtrak Mardi Gras Service Line gets ready to leave from the Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER▲


A brass band leads passengers to the train before the inaugural ride of the Amtrak Mardi Gras Service Line from the Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER▲

BY POET WOLFE | Staff writer
Updated 15 hrs ago

John Hilbert stood by the railroad tracks at the Bay St. Louis station on a sweltering Gulf Coast morning, waiting. … He was part of a small crowd of residents, travelers, tourism officials and city leaders gathered Monday to welcome the first passengers rolling in from New Orleans on Amtrak's newest rail line. And though surrounded by official boosters of the region, Hilbert, who was meeting his friend, made as good of a pitch as anyone for what the new service could bring.

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After dignitaries and members of the media gathered Saturday at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal for speeches and a celebratory inaugural ride, Monday marked the official start of regular service on the Amtrak's Mardi Gras line.

A train full of passengers departed New Orleans at 7:35 a.m. for stops in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula before reaching the line's terminus in Mobile. Each paid $15, the one-way fare for the trip.

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