Amtrak Is Officially Exploring a New Route Connecting NYC and Dallas
The service would be the result of an extension of the Crescent train.
A 20-year-long train route vision could finally become reality. Amtrak recently announced that it has officially partnered with the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) to study and evaluate new service connecting NYC, Atlanta, and Dallas/Fort Worth.
New Yorkers looking for an alternative to flying could have a brand new alternative to Dallas-bound flights, and vice versa. They would have to be okay with the much-longer haul, though. The new service would be an extension across Mississippi and Louisiana to Texas of Amtrak's Crescent train, which runs along Interstate 20. The line is famous for connecting the Big Apple to New Orleans, and the ride between the two cities is currently 30 hours long.
New policies and agreements surely helped put the idea in motion. According to Amtrak, it is thanks to the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that this new endeavor is possible, as the legislation allowed the company to seriously consider applying for funds to study possible long-distance expanded service.
"This has the potential to be the first new Amtrak service of its kind in more than 25 years and it would come in an area that has long been underserved by passenger rail," SRC Chairman Knox Ross said in a statement. "Now that we have a way forward for new state-sponsored corridor service between New Orleans and Mobile, the I-20 route has been identified by the SRC as its next priority."