Amtrak launched its Mardi Gras Service, a six-stop train line that runs from Mobile, Alabama to New Orleans for just $15 a trip.

Marking the first rail service along the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina, this twice daily service runs between New Orleans and Mobile with stops along the way.

John Hilbert stood by the railroad tracks at the Bay St. Louis station on a sweltering Gulf Coast morning, waiting. He was part of a small crowd of residents, travelers, tourism officials and city leaders gathered Monday to welcome the first passengers rolling in from New Orleans on Amtrak's newest rail line.