re: Dedicated passenger train from Baton Rouge to New Orleans "3-5 years away"

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It would be utilized more than most can probably imagine right now

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Seven parishes along the existing tracks that trace the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans support the plan: East Baton Rouge, Ascension, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, Jefferson and Orleans.

They account for more than 2 million people, 46 percent of Louisiana's jobs and the source of more than half the state's sales tax revenue, according to GNO Inc. and other stakeholders. Baton Rouge is the seat of state government and home to LSU. New Orleans has the port and a burgeoning entrepreneurial class. The River Parishes have the petrochemical industry. And each of these hubs is in search of skilled workers.

He said he expects 75,000 new jobs to come into that corridor by 2022, and as many as 50,000 people could be shuttling back and forth between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

That need is why the latest passenger rail plan stands a better chance than its predecessors of becoming reality, said Cedric Grant, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's infrastructure czar.

"I'm telling you that these job opportunities are the things making a difference, No. 1," Grant said, "and No. 2, the people who are coming in and investing in the state now. The market itself is speaking to people, that this is a good viable opportunity."

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