Amtrak marks a year of Gulf Coast service

The big picture: The twice-daily trains have carried 150,000 passengers in their first year, the company says.

• They carry an average of 400 passengers daily.
• Amtrak expects to add more trains on the route for Saints home games, a publicist tells Axios. The schedule is still being worked out.

The other side: Seven people have died in the past year in collisions with the trains, according to the Times-Picayune.

• The victims were in cars or walking along the tracks.
• Train passengers have also been injured in crashes with vehicles.
• The Southern Rail Commission — a multistate group that advocates for passenger rail service — plans to work with the Federal Railroad Administration to study ways to reduce crashes, the paper reports.

Go deeper

• What it's like to ride the train
• Photo tour inside the train