The golden era of night trains had, it was previously assumed, gone for good amid the rise of low-cost, short-haul flights. But the new environmental imperatives suggested that they could be a glamorous part of a greener future, delivering a climate impact that was 28 times less than flying. The European Commission enthusiastically identified a plethora of potential new routes that it judged could be economically viable.
When Amtrak started running the Mardi Gras Service started running between New Orleans and Mobile in August, it restored passenger rail to the Gulf Coast for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. To make that happen, though, required a decade-long effort - and the creation of a new national rail program that has had ripple effects acrossAmerica.