NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Amtrak resumed passenger rail service to New Orleans on Saturday, bringing mass ground transportation back to the city for the first time since Hurricane Katrina.
The train called the City of New Orleans arrived with 29 passengers aboard, greeted by a handful of well-wishers, after leaving Chicago late Thursday.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said he expected more than 30 passengers to arrive Sunday and that "the business will grow steadily but slowly over the next several weeks." Greater numbers of passengers are expected next year, after tracks to the east are repaired. Service to the west should resume before that, he said.