Two people are dead after a vehicle attempted to bypass lowered crossing arms and was struck by an Amtrak Mardi Gras train Thursday morning in Theodore, Alabama, in a stretch of track that has now recorded multiple fatal collisions within the past year. The crash happened shortly before 11 a.m. at the Bellingrath Road and Peary Road level crossing as the train traveled from New Orleans toward Mobile.
Police Confirm Timeline and Signal Function
Mobile Police Department Public Affairs Manager Blake Brown confirmed that officers responded to the scene shortly before 11 a.m., according to 1819 News. Investigators believe the vehicle, which carried two occupants, attempted to bypass the crossing gates, and local traffic was diverted while Mobile Fire-Rescue and CSX personnel assisted at the intersection. Preliminary findings relayed by Lagniappe Mobile indicate the crossing's signals and gate arms were active and functioning properly at the time of impact. As of Thursday, the identities of the two victims had not been released.
The crash site is in Theodore, where another deadly wreck occurred in February. A mother and her 8-year-old daughter were killed when a Mardi Gras train struck their vehicle at the Cary Hamilton Road crossing, also in Theodore, per the same Lagniappe Mobile report. High-speed passenger trains now share tracks with traditional freight traffic in Theodore.
A Pattern of Fatal Crashes Since Launch
Thursday's deaths bring the Mardi Gras Service's reported toll to eight since the line returned: six fatalities had been reported before Thursday's crash, and the September collision killed two more. Earlier fatal crashes during the route's first year include a September 2025 collision on Davis Avenue in Pass Christian, Mississippi, that killed two occupants, and a November 2025 crash in Gautier, Mississippi, in which a 40-year-old driver was killed after driving around lowered gates, according to Blue RAM Media. In both of those Mississippi crashes, Amtrak confirmed that no passengers or train crew members were injured.
Thursday's crash and the November 2025 Gautier crash involved drivers attempting to go around lowered gates. Safety officials continue to urge drivers to stop, look, and listen at every crossing rather than try to outrun an oncoming train.
Safety Campaigns Launched After Earlier Deaths
A Safety Campaign Addresses Crossing Safety The recurring fatalities are not new to local officials. The City of Mobile's Public Safety Department and Visit Mobile produced a safety video, according to NBC 15 News. Passenger rail service had been absent from the Gulf Coast for two decades, and trains now run at higher speeds.
That familiarity gap traces back to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated critical rail infrastructure in 2005 and forced a 20-year hiatus in Gulf Coast passenger rail. Service between New Orleans and Mobile was finally re-established on August 18, 2025, according to the Southern Rail Commission, following two decades of inter-agency planning and infrastructure investment. The Mardi Gras Service now operates as a state-supported route, with public funding commitments.
Ridership Success Runs Alongside Rising Death Toll
The safety concerns stand in stark contrast to the line's commercial performance. Total ridership on the Mardi Gras Service reached 150,000 passengers by its one-year anniversary in August, more than double Amtrak's pre-launch annual projection of 71,000 riders, according to Trains Magazine. Tourism promotion helped attract customers, including many from outside the region.
The route has also seen collisions involving commercial trucks, including an April crash with a semi-truck in Grand Bay, Alabama, previously covered by Hoodline, and an August 7 collision involving a semi-truck and an abandoned trailer at Claremont Boulevard in rural Hancock County, Mississippi. The August 7 collision involved a rural grade crossing, and Thursday's crash involved a vehicle attempting to bypass lowered gates.
Highway-rail crossing incidents are the second-leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States. Safety organizations emphasize that passenger trains traveling at high speed can require up to a full mile to come to a complete stop, a physical reality that leaves drivers who misjudge a train's approach with little margin for error. The rapid growth of the Mardi Gras Service has also strained rail scheduling elsewhere on the corridor; the city's Polar Express holiday train was canceled in 2025 because of a scheduling conflict with Amtrak's new route.
