Two decades after Hurricane Katrina halted rail service, Amtrak's new Mardi Gras Service links Mobile and New Orleans, offering travellers coastal views and stories of resilience.

We trundled slowly south out of Mobile, skirting the city's twinkling river. Lofty high-rises and concrete highways coated in pink morning light gave way to historic shipyards, lush forests and peaceful river communities. Fishermen in boats and children in gardens waved at the train with excitement, the conductor sounding the horn in response.

Operated by Amtrak, I was one of the first on board the restored Gulf Coast line, relaunched on 18 August 2025, 20 years after Hurricane Katrina decimated entire coastal communities and wiped out the passenger rail service. Reborn as the Mardi Gras Service – a nod to the pre-Lent traditions celebrated across this former French coast – the new twice-daily service runs between the cosmopolitan waterfront city of Mobile, Alabama, and jazz-infused New Orleans, Louisiana.

As I discovered, it is an almost four-hour journey through one of the country's most scenic but lesser explored stretches of coast. The train winds through Louisiana's Cajun country, with its miles of grassy bayous and heady festivals, and along Mississippi's shoreline, a quieter area of butter-coloured beaches, fishing villages and walkable seaside towns, all easily accessible from the four station stops en route: Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay Saint Louis.

The morning and evening departures allow for day trips or overnight journeys. However, I opted for a longer adventure, hopping on and off the train with two overnight stops in coastal Mississippi. And while international visitors will likely board in New Orleans, I started at the other end, in Mobile, a port city of wrought iron balconies and live oaks where the US's first Mardi Gras is said to have taken place in the 1700s.

It was still dark when I arrived at the gleaming new station, lit up by the glare of the giant convention centre. I was at least 30 minutes early for the 06.30 departure, but the shiny blue, red and silver train was already idling on the platform, humming with chatty passengers – most from the local area and eagerly anticipating the journey ahead. Many of them, I quickly discovered, had never travelled on a train before.

"I've been excited to do this trip since they announced its launch years ago," said Harold Arnold from Pensacola in Florida, a first-time rail traveller on his way to New Orleans for a bloody mary at the city's famous revolving Carousel Bar.

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"We've been on trains in Italy but not the US," added Joanne Bloodworth, from Fairhope, Alabama, travelling with her husband, Pat to New Orleans, who was relieved not to be driving. "It'll be great to relax and take things easy."

A uniformed guard welcomed me in a thick Southern drawl. "New Orleans to the left, Mississippi to the right, have a great trip ma'am," he announced, lifting my small suitcase onto the train. I noticed strings of purple, green and gold beads around his neck, a nod to the tradition of tossing them from parade floats during Carnival celebrations, the colours symbols of justice, faith and power.

I sank into my leather seat in coach class and stretched out with room to spare. When the dining car........

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