A passenger rail line that was a casualty of Hurricane Katrina now sits in the eye of another storm — this one pitting freight vs. passenger rail.
Advocates of bringing back a long-distance Amtrak route between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans — a 144-mile drive on Interstate 10 — say it would be an important step in the long recovery from the 2005 natural disaster, bring in tourism dollars and serve as a symbol of the passenger rail renaissance promised by President Joe Biden.
Opponents say restoring the route would exacerbate supply chain issues that have bedeviled the Biden presidency.