Mobile station (Amtrak)

Mobile station was a train station in Mobile, Alabama. It was built in 1956 and demolished in 2007.

History
Built in 1956 by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, it replaced an earlier station on the same site.

Former Louisville & Nashville services which utilized the station included the Pan-American (discontinued, 1971) and Humming Bird (discontinued, 1969). Through an agreement between the two rail companies, until 1970, the Southern Railway operated the Crescent through Mobile. Until 1971, the L&N operated the New Orleans–Jacksonville, Florida Gulf Wind through the station in cooperation with the Seaboard Coast Line (prior to 1967, Seaboard Air Line). In previous years the company additionally operated the New Orleans-Florida Limited, replete with diner and sleeper service, that made the trip during daylight hours in Florida for most of the route.

Amtrak service began with the Gulf Coast Limited, which operated between 1984 and 1985 and called at the station. Mobile then served as the southern terminus of the Gulf Breeze train starting in 1989. The Sunset Limited began stopping here in 1993, and the Gulf Breeze was discontinued in 1995. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded the station and Amtrak discontinued the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. In 2006, CSX sold the property to a developer, who razed the station in 2007.

Proposed restoration of service
Amtrak announced in 2016 that plans for a return of the Sunset Limited were under consideration. By 2021, Amtrak announced the possibility of restarting service to Mobile as a restoration of the Gulf Coast Limited. Resumption of service would require the construction new platforms and an overnight yard at the site. , there remained unresolved issues between Amtrak and Mobile over cost sharing and possible interference with port operations. However, on May 6, Mobile's Board of Zoning Adjustment approved a zoning exception that allows Amtrak to construct a temporary station near the site of the former station.

In June 2024, service restoration took a significant step forward when the city, state, and Port Authority reached a tentative agreement to fund the service for three years. The Port Authority reversed its earlier opposition because a federal grant of $70M for infrastructure improvements would benefit the port. A lease for the city-owned land to construct platforms and a parking lot remained unresolved as there is opposition with the city council to fund the plan.