After 80 Years, Passenger Trains May Return to Natchez

NATCHEZ, Miss. – City aldermen agreed Tuesday to join two other neighboring towns to establish a Natchez-to-Brookhaven passenger train service that’s dependent on getting federal funds.

Such a plan is still iffy as discussions for this have been ongoing for several years with much more work ahead to make it a reality, said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson.

“This won’t happen tomorrow. A lot depends on the (federal) grants that will be awarded later this year,” Gibson told the Natchez Board of Aldermen.

Also involved is the Scenic Rivers Development Alliance, which has partnered with Hyatt to build a resort on Lake Okhissa about 40 miles from Natchez and near Meadville.

Planning for the passenger rail service has been under the radar but extensive. “We have not talked about it, but we have worked hard on it,” said Gibson, who became Natchez mayor in 2020.

He noted engineering work has been done for a site in Natchez where passengers could board the train.

Passenger trains stopped coming to Natchez in 1945, when Illinois Central ceased the service at the Broadway Street depot, according to historical accounts. Brookhaven, which is a stop for Amtrak, is the closest place to catch a passenger train.

Gibson acknowledged passenger rail service’s return to Natchez is not a certainty.

Gibson noted Mississippi’s U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is striving to get federal funds for this. She did get congressional allocations last year for improving transportation access to Lake Okhissa, where Hyatt’s 200-room lodge and 1,000-person conference center is to be located. It’s scheduled to open in 2028, according to DLR Group, the design firm for the resort.

The nearby Natchez-to-Brookhaven railroad in recent years has received millions of federal dollars for improvements. Natchez’ only rail line was threatened with abandonment because its substandard bridges could not accommodate heavy train cars. However, rehabilitation work was completed with   $10 million in federal funds received by Natchez in 2016 along with $3.3 million from Natchez Railway.

Commodities hauled on the Natchez-to-Brookhaven railroad include forestry products, crude oil and empty train cars for a repair facility at Bude, according to Natchez Railway. Genesis Energy in Natchez has been a heavy user of the west-to-east rail line, which links to the larger north-to-south rail route going through Brookhaven.