The Gulf Breeze was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Mobile, Alabama, as a section of the Crescent. Southbound, the Gulf Breeze split from the Crescent in Birmingham to serve an additional seven stations in Alabama on a 275-mile (443 km) route south to Mobile. The service ran from 1989 until 1995.
History
Amtrak introduced the Gulf Breeze on October 27, 1989, as a section of the Crescent (New York City–New Orleans).[1] Costs of operation were split between Amtrak and the state, with the latter contributing about $1.3 million per year. Annual ridership in FY 1994, the last full year of operation, was 7,737. In December 1994 Amtrak announced that the Gulf Breeze would be discontinued as part of a broad cost-cutting measure which saw other services eliminated or reduced.[2] The last Gulf Breeze ran on April 1, 1995, and was replaced by bus service.[3]
Later that year attempts were made under the auspices of the Southern High Speed Rail Commission to resurrect the Gulf Breeze as a Mobile–New Orleans service, sharing part of the Sunset Limited's route. This was eventually realized as the Gulf Coast Limited, a joint effort between Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana which operated 1996–1997.[4]
Route
The Gulf Breeze split from the Crescent at Birmingham and ran south through Montgomery to Mobile on the Gulf of Mexico, while the Crescent continued southwest through Mississippi to New Orleans. At the time Mobile was served also by the Sunset Limited (Orlando, Florida–Los Angeles, California).[5]
As of 2023, Birmingham (served by the Crescent) is the only Gulf Breeze station still in operation. Mobile and Atmore were served by the Gulf Coast Limited in 1996–1997, and by the Sunset Limited from 1993 to 2005. The remaining stations have not seen passenger rail service since the cancellation of the Gulf Breeze.
Station stops
| State | Miles (km) | Town/City | Station | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crescent to/from New York City | ||||
| AL | 1,024 (1,648) | Birmingham | Birmingham | |
| 1,120 (1,800) | Montgomery | Montgomery | ||
| 1,164 (1,873) | Greenville | Greenville | ||
| 1,201 (1,933) | Evergreen | Evergreen | ||
| 1,225 (1,971) | Brewton | Brewton | ||
| 1,254 (2,018) | Atmore | Atmore | ||
| 1,274 (2,050) | Bay Minette | Bay Minette | ||
| 1,299 (2,091) | Mobile | Mobile | ||
References
- ^ "Gulf Breeze button". Amtrak.com. November 14, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
- ^ Diehl, Stan (December 15, 1994). "CUTS BIRMINGHAM TO MOBILE LINK RAIL SERVICE PRUNED NATIONWIDE". Birmingham News.
- ^ "AMTRAK ELIMINATES GULF BREEZE TRAIN SERVICE; REPLACES WITH THRUWAY BUS SERVICE". PR Newswire. April 3, 1995.
- ^ "The little train route that could gets the go-ahead". Coast Business. April 10, 1995. p. 7.
- ^ Durantine, Peter (November 13, 1989). "Orient Express-Style Train Launches Washington to Chicago Run". Washington Business Journal. p. 31.
External links
Media related to Gulf Breeze (train) at Wikimedia Commons