More than $2 million in funds from the Federal Railroad Administration has been allocated for 11 communities in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, that are planning for restored and improved passenger rail service to return, the Southern Rail Commission announced Monday.

A total of 11 grants will be awarded to the following communities for station-area planning and construction projects that will ensure safe access and better connectivity to and from the station, improved convenience for riders, updated facilities, and leveraged economic opportunity that comes with station redevelopment.

The communities by state are as follows:

Alabama

· City of Anniston

· City of Birmingham

· City of Mobile

· City of Tuscaloosa

Louisiana

· Baton Rouge

· City of Gonzales

· St. John Parish

Mississippi

· City of Bay St. Louis

· City of Biloxi

· City of Gulfport

· City of Pascagoula

For quite some time, the City of Atmore has been vying to return passenger rail service, and the return is coming, according to officials.

SRC Chairman Greg White said the reason why Atmore wasn’t included in the allocation is because a number of years ago, Congress had already ear-marked the funds foro the Gulf Coast High Speed Corridor.

White said specifically, the areas affected are between New Orleans through Mississippi and into Alabama, but stopped in Mobile.

“We tried to get the rules bent to get some money to Atmore, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “The track goes through Anniston, which is the end of the high-speed leg.”

White said Atmore is set to get passenger service.

“If we get service started to the Gulf Coast, then it will come to Atmore,” he said.

The SRC worked side by side with their Congressional delegation, the FRA, host railroads and Amtrak to pursue federal funds to restore passenger rail service in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, according to a release.

“Passenger rail service has been out of commission in many of these communities since Hurricane Katrina destroyed rail infrastructure across the Gulf Coast in 2005,” Knox Ross, secretary-treasurer of SRC, said. “These awards demonstrate the strong commitment by both Senators Cochran and Wicker and our Mississippi cities to seeing Amtrak return to the Gulf Coast. The SRC is pleased to partner with these cities to bring back Amtrak to the Gulf Coast.”