North America - Canadian Pacific Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Technology Transformation James Clements yesterday announced that the railway is committed to establishing a passenger-rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana.
 
Clements joined Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, local elected officials, and business leaders representing the Southern Louisiana Super Region (SoLA) for a conversation on Southern Louisiana passenger rail, according to a press release issued by the Southern Rail Commission (SRC).
 
Passenger rail service between Louisiana's two largest cities would follow CP's approved control of the track, as proposed in the pending CP/KCS merger application, and completion of necessary infrastructure improvements in conjunction with stakeholders, SRC officials said.
 
At yesterday's event, Clements expressed the willingness of CP to open capacity of a CP owned track to an initial one round trip per day, increased capacity could be accommodated depending on available funding for required capital improvements.
 
"We look forward to the expansion and working with Amtrak to develop passenger service. We're excited about what this does for our customers, and what this does for our communities," said Clements.
 
The SoLA Super Region Committee has long advocated for passenger rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans as a priority for economic competitiveness, business, talent attraction, and disaster preparedness, commission officials said.
 
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