News Staff Report
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs will hold a public meeting in Atmore Tuesday, April 30, to discuss the Montgomery to Mobile portion of the state-sponsored Birmingham-Montgomery-Mobile Intercity Passenger Rail Feasibility Study’s second phase.
The public meeting is set to last from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Atmore City Hall Auditorium, 201 East Louisville Avenue.
The State of Alabama, by and through ADECA and its Community and Economic Development Division, is preparing the feasibility study to determine whether or not the return of passenger rail service to the former “Gulf Breeze” corridor (from Birmingham to Montgomery to Mobile) is economically and logistically feasible.
Phase 1 of the study pertained only to passenger rail service between Birmingham and Montgomery. Phase 2 pertains only to passenger rail service between Montgomery and Mobile.
The purpose of Phase 2 is to assess the feasibility of passenger rail service between the state capital and the state’s only port, and to determine the necessary elements needed to implement such service.
It will also consider the combined effects of passenger rail service along the corridor, with rail connections to existing and proposed east-west Amtrak lines in Birmingham and Mobile.
The public is invited to attend the meeting. Citizens will be allowed to review project information, make comments and provide input. There will be no formal presentations, but the public will be allowed opportunities to make verbal comments about the study, and a court reporter will be available to record all such comments.