This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
12/9/2021
Canadian Pacific Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Technology Transformation James Clements yesterday announced that the railroad is committed to establishing a passenger-rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Clements joined Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, local elected officials and business leaders representing the Southern Louisiana Super Region (SoLA) for a conversation on Southern Louisiana passenger rail, according to a press release issued by the Southern Rail Commission (SRC).
Passenger-rail service between Louisiana's two largest cities would follow CP's approved control of the track, as proposed in the pending CP-KCS merger application, and completion of necessary infrastructure improvements in conjunction with stakeholders, SRC officials said.
At yesterday’s event, Clements expressed the willingness of CP to open capacity of a CP-owned track to an initial one round trip per day; increased capacity could be accommodated depending on available funding for required capital improvements.
"We look forward to the expansion and working with Amtrak to develop passenger service," said Clements. "We’re excited about what this does for our customers, and what this does for our communities."
The SoLA Super Region Committee has long advocated for passenger-rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans as a priority for economic competitiveness, business and talent attraction and disaster preparedness, commission officials said.