Amtrak route backers think they now have their best shot

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — In the future, traveling to places like Atlanta from the ArkLaTex will not only be a plane, car or bus ride away. Instead, you will be able to do it from a train.

Jack Skaggs, who heads the Coordinating & Development Corp., said this has been ongoing push. “For years, we have had a lot of community organizations that have been working toward this to prove that this is a viable route.”

Now there is a little more progress about Amtrak making strides on the possibility of a route traveling along the Interstate 20 corridor.

“We feel like we have the best shot that we’ve ever had of getting it moved to the next step,” Skaggs said.

There would not have to be a new train route built because Canadian Pacific already owns the route. And Canadian Pacific recently agreed to work with Amtrak.

Skaggs said the route would travel through Texas and Louisiana and through cities like Shreveport, ending in Atlanta, Ga.

“We still have to prove that it is viable, that it doesn’t affect the business and that the route could potentially pay for itself.”

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The money will come from the infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed last year, he said. “Amtrak will be getting part of the $66 billion, not the complete amount.”

There is still no timeline on how long the process will take to become final.

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