Gulf Coast Limited

Serving New Orleans, Mobile, and intermediate points

Amtrak train numbers: 23 and 24 (1980s); ? (1990s)

Predecessor railroad train numbers: None

In conjunction with the New Orleans World's Fair in 1984, the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama paid for an experimental Amtrak train running between Mobile and New Orleans. The service lasted about six months beyond the run of the fair until the states lost interest in continuing to fund its operation.

Passenger train service returned to the route in 1993, when Amtrak made the Sunset Limited into a transcontinental train, extending the eastern terminus from New Orleans to Miami.

However, the times at which the Sunset Limited operated made it less than ideal to serve local traffic between New Orleans and Mobile. In 1996, the Gulf Coast Limited was reinstated, again paid for by the three states involved; however, mainly due to Amtrak's 1997 budget cuts, this second incarnation was discontinued after less than a year of operation.

   READ DOWN                         READ UP
(1984)  (1996)                   (1996)  (1984)
 6:30P   5:45P Dp New Orleans Ar  9:40A  10:40A
10:05P   8:55P Ar Mobile      Dp  6:30A   7:00A

The Amtrak Train Names Project