(The following article by Rachel Hayes was posted on the Bossier Press website on December 9.)
BOSSIER CITY, La. -– Progressive steps are being made in Bossier City to bring a new mode of transportation between here and Dallas.
City officials along with members of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce, the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau and the casinos met with officials from Amtrak in a meeting Monday evening to discuss the logistics of bringing an Amtrak station to Bossier City.
“The idea (of this meeting) was to be able to say to each other ‘this is what we want to do’ and kind of lay it all out,” said Joe Littlejohn, chairman of the Amtrak committee formed by Bossier City Mayor George Dement.
The committee is currently working on the logistics of conducting a four-day test run in April between Bossier City and Dallas or Fort Worth to test the waters and see what the response may be.
But before that can happen there are several kinks that have to be worked out.
Amtrak will have to coordinate schedules with the two railroads that have tracks in Bossier City – Kansas City Railroad and Union Pacific. Littlejohn described the Amtrak system as being a tenant of the freight railroads, and said it will be up to them to coordinate with the railroads.
Money for the project is also something the committee is having to consider. The city currently has no plans of putting up funding for the train so other options will have to be considered. And the cost of the four-day test run, an amount yet to be determined, would lie completely on the shoulders of those wishing to bring in the train.
“Amtrak cannot start anything that they would have to pay for, so the funding has to come from other sources,” Littlejohn said.
The “other sources” have yet to be announced.
But even with these challenges lying in their path, Dement said now is the time for this project to happen.
“For 16 years we have made attempts to try to get this to be a reality, but this demonstration effort that we’re talking about is the first time that we’ve ever been able to get this far along,” he said.
With the construction of the Louisiana Boardwalk and the Shreveport convention center, tourism is on the rise in the local area, and Dement said this new mode of transportation would only serve to increase the already growing numbers.
“We have all these attractions that make this a tourist destination,” he said.
“The main attraction that I can see is to bring tourism to Shreveport and Bossier by the train loads.”
Dement also said the train would be an attraction all by itself because many people have never ridden on a train.
“Passenger train service is not just a way to get there, it is an event in itself,” he said. Just to ride in the comfort and safety of a passenger train is an experience all on it’s own.”
Dement said the advantages of Amtrak include relieving congestion on roads, fares that are cheaper than flying, and less pollution because people will not be driving their cars.
The four-day trail run is what Dement calls an introduction to passenger train service, and the event will be open to the public.
The Amtrak committee will meet again next week to continue their work on the project.