JACKSON, Miss. – You could be at risk of losing Amtrak train service in your local area. Amtrak is asking Congress to directly fund long-distance trains, like the two routes that run through Mississippi from New Orleans. Amtrak has trains that make daily stops in McComb, Jackson, Greenwood, Hattiesburg, Meridian, and others. The company says stations like those are becoming more important as airlines and bus companies continue to abandon areas across the country.
Wednesday, the company’s leaders made stops along Mississippi routes to meet with local leaders in hopes of gaining local support for federal dollars. Although Amtrak says they have had record numbers for passengers recently, they are still having to move money made in the heavily traveled Northeast to other parts of the country. Amtrak says that money needs to stay in the Northeast for needed infrastructure improvements since some of those railroads have been around since the American Civil War.
