Mardi Gras Service With Kids: Gulf Coast Stops, Bridges and Tickets
Looking for an easy first train ride with kids on the Gulf Coast? The Mardi Gras Service is about as gentle as it gets: two trains a day each way link New Orleans and Mobile in about 3 hours 45 minutes, with four Mississippi Gulf Coast stops in between. Kids 2 to 12 ride for half price, and adult coach seats have started at $15. The line came back in August 2025, almost 20 years after Hurricane Katrina wrecked its bridges, and those long crossings over open water are the best part for kids. Here's every stop, what to look for at each one, and the day trips that fit around a nap.
The short version
- Two round trips a day, every day; New Orleans to Mobile takes about 3 hours 45 minutes.
- Six stops in all: New Orleans, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, Pascagoula and Mobile.
- Ages 2 to 12 pay half price next to an adult; lap babies under 2 ride free, one per adult.
- There are no checked bags on this route, so pack carry-ons only.
- Heading to Mobile, sit on the right for the Gulf side. The Rigolets trestle runs about 4,555 feet.
- The Mississippi Aquarium is a few blocks from the Gulfport stop, which makes for an easy day trip.
Mardi Gras Service at a glance
- Runs between
- New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama
- States
- Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
- Distance
- about 145 miles
- End to end
- about 3 hours 45 minutes
- Trains
- Two round trips per day, every day
- Train cars
- Single-level Amfleet coaches and a cafe car, with a locomotive at each end
- Four-seat tables
- None in coach; the cafe car has booths
- Upstairs seating
- None, everything is on one level
- Food
- Cafe car with New Orleans snacks like muffuletta wedges and pralines
- Business Class
- Yes, with extra legroom and one free soft drink
- Sleeper rooms
- None, this is a daytime and evening train
- Checked bags
- Not offered; carry-on bags only
Look inside the book
Riding to the Gulf Coast? Give Rally the window seat.
Rally spends a page at the window watching a bird, much like your kids will on the bridges between New Orleans and Mobile. Turn a few pages here.
Rally Takes the Train
Eight pages from the book
Turn the page
That's 8 of 25 pages
See who’s waiting at the station
Grandmommy and Papa are at the last stop. Get the full hand-painted book, $13.99 on Amazon.
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25 hand-painted pages, paperback, $13.99 with fast shipping from Amazon.
Every page is real watercolor on paper, painted by hand by Leslie Dunn. Nothing in this book was made with AI.
Do kids need a ticket on the Mardi Gras Service?
Yes, kids need tickets, but on this line they’re cheap. A child from 2 through 12 pays half of what a grown-up pays, as long as someone 18 or older is riding too. Babies under 2 ride free on a lap, one per adult. Traveling with a second baby, or want a seat of their own for the baby? That seat costs the child fare.
Fares here start low and move with demand. At launch, Amtrak sold coach from $15 one way and Business Class from $59. Opening-day seats sold out in less than 24 hours, and Amtrak has added cars for New Orleans Saints home games, so book early for football weekends and festivals.
A few rules on this train are different from most Amtrak routes. There’s no checked baggage, so each rider gets one personal item up to 25 pounds and two carry-ons up to 50 pounds. Small dogs and cats in carriers are allowed on this route, which is good news if the family pet is coming. Several stations are just a platform with no ticket window, so buy tickets in the Amtrak app or online before you leave home.
Children 12 and under can never ride alone on Amtrak. For car seats, toddler tips and the full family policy, see our Amtrak with kids guide.
Free for train families
Free Mardi Gras Service activity book
A stop tracker for all 6 stops, a word search full of Mardi Gras Service stops, window bingo, a maze, a ticket to fill in and a page to draw the view. It fits in a folder with a few crayons and weighs nothing in the diaper bag.
Get the free Mardi Gras Service activity bookEvery Mardi Gras Service stop, from New Orleans to Mobile
Six stops, and every train makes all of them. Stops are quick, usually 2 to 3 minutes, and the train won’t wait, so be on the platform early with shoes on and bags zipped.
Louisiana- New Orleans Union Passenger TerminalLook for: Before you board, walk the kids along the 120-foot-long mural by Conrad Albrizio, which tells Louisiana and New Orleans history. It was restored after Hurricane Katrina.
- Bay St. LouisLook for: Right beside the platform, the 1929 depot holds a Mardi Gras Museum, the Alice Moseley Folk Art Museum and the town visitor center.
- GulfportLook for: A few blocks away, the Mississippi Aquarium has a 360-degree walkway with views of sharks and stingrays, plus touch tanks and an otter habitat.
- BiloxiLook for: Mardi Gras fans, this stop is yours: the Coastal Mississippi Mardi Gras Museum is downtown, a short walk from the platform.
- PascagoulaLook for: Have them spot the old L&N depot by the tracks, a one-story wooden building with clapboard siding that the railroad made bigger in 1918.
- Mobile (Water Street platform)Look for: Across the street, Cooper Riverside Park looks out over the Mobile River. The battleship USS Alabama sits across that river, east of downtown.
What kids can see from the Mardi Gras Service
Which side to sit on
The Gulf of Mexico stays south of the tracks the whole way. That means the right side heading to Mobile and the left side heading to New Orleans. Along the Mississippi Coast the tracks run behind the beach towns, so the water shows up in quick flashes at the end of the side streets. Make it a game: the first one to call out “Gulf!” picks the next snack.
Bridges over open water
The best part comes early, so don’t hand over the tablet yet. East of New Orleans the train rolls through marsh between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, then crosses the Rigolets, a tidal strait, on a railroad trestle about 4,555 feet long. On the bay bridges there’s water on both sides, so both window seats win.
Have the kids watch the old dock posts and pilings. One writer riding this train saw pelicans sitting on them and even spotted a dolphin. Some of these bridges open for boats, so a short wait is part of the ride, and a good chance to look for birds.
A train that came back
Passenger trains stopped running here after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the storm destroyed major bridges and damaged 110 miles of track. The Mardi Gras Service started on August 18, 2025, and passed 100,000 riders by April 2026. Every stop got a new platform with accessibility features, so you can roll a stroller or wheelchair right up to the train door.
Pick a morning train for the view
Morning trains give you daylight over the water. The evening trains, which leave New Orleans at 5:31 p.m. and Mobile at 4:30 p.m., finish in the dark for much of the year. In winter, ride out in the morning and let the trip home be the sleepy one.
Where to sit with kids on the Mardi Gras Service
The whole train sits on one floor, with no stairs between your seat, the cafe and the restrooms. That helps when you’re carrying a sleeping toddler. Coach seats are reserved, two by two, with no middle seats. Each seat reclines and has a power outlet, and the cars have free Wi-Fi and restrooms.
Coach has no four-seat tables. If your family wants to face each other for cards or coloring, head to the cafe car and grab a booth. Business Class sits in that same combination cafe and Business car, with extra legroom, footrests and one free soft drink.
The platforms are short, sized for two coaches and the cafe car, and the conductor lowers the steps right at the door. Fold the stroller before the train pulls in, keep bags in one hand, and have the kids lined up at the edge of the waiting area. In New Orleans, Business Class riders can wait in the Magnolia Room.
We couldn’t confirm a Quiet Car on this short train, so tablets need headphones wherever you sit.
If your family gets split up on the Mardi Gras Service
Book everyone on one reservation. Coach seats here are reserved, so every ticket guarantees you a seat, though not which one, and the first families aboard get the best pairs. With just two coaches and stops of 2 to 3 minutes, be waiting at the edge of the platform area early, above all on Saints game weekends and festival days.
The conductor lowers the steps right at your door, which is the perfect moment to say, “Four of us, kids 2 and 5, any seats together?” They know where the empty seats are and can have riders move purses and backpacks, since a bag never gets a ticketed seat, but they won’t make a seated rider move.
Still apart once you’re rolling? Take whatever two seats are nearest each other, then peek into the other coach. With no middle seats, one friendly trade often fixes it: mention your toddler and offer a matching seat, a window if they’re giving one up.
Don’t ask someone on the Gulf side to give up a water view for an aisle, and take a no with a smile. Even on the 19-minute hop from Gulfport to Biloxi, keep young kids right beside you, never a few rows up on their own.
The best first Mardi Gras Service ride with kids
These times come from Amtrak’s current timetable. Check the app before you go, since times can change.
- New Orleans to Bay St. Louis, day trip (about 1 hour 25 minutes each way). Catch the 7:35 a.m. train and you cross the Rigolets in morning light before getting off at 8:59 a.m. Spend the day at the depot museums and the beach, then ride the 6:26 p.m. train back, into New Orleans at 8:13 p.m., right around bedtime. Tuck our free Rally activity pages in the beach bag for that sleepy ride home.
- New Orleans to Gulfport, aquarium day (about 1 hour 50 minutes each way). The same 7:35 a.m. train reaches Gulfport at 9:24 a.m., a few blocks from the Mississippi Aquarium. The 6:01 p.m. train gets you home by 8:13 p.m.
- Mobile to Biloxi, early start (about 1 hour 10 minutes each way). The 6:30 a.m. train from Mobile reaches Biloxi at 7:39 a.m., so early risers can have breakfast on the coast. Ride home on the 7:41 p.m. train, back in Mobile at 9:14 p.m.
Food, bathrooms and naps on the Mardi Gras Service
The cafe car sells snacks, sandwiches, coffee and soft drinks, with a local twist: muffuletta wedges, pralines, Zapp’s chips, Moon Pies and Community Coffee. Got a picky eater? Bring your own food, which also helps on the early trains.
Each car has restrooms, so the potty dash stays short. The windows don’t open, so on summer days pack a light layer for the cold air conditioning.
There are no sleeping cars on this train, and you won’t miss them. The 7:35 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. trains leave early enough that a toddler may finish a morning nap on board. At 3 hours 45 minutes end to end, the whole line is short enough to do with snacks, a book and the window.
We couldn’t confirm changing tables on these Amfleet cars, so a roll-up pad in the diaper bag is a smart backup.
A train book for the ride
In Rally Takes the Train, Rally rides the Pacific Surfliner beside the ocean and spends a whole page at the window, watching a white bird fly by. The Mardi Gras Service is the Gulf Coast cousin of that page. Out on the Rigolets trestle, with water on both sides, ask your kids to find a pelican on a piling and compare it to Rally’s bird.
The book takes about five minutes to read aloud, so you can get through it more than once on the 19-minute hop from Gulfport to Biloxi. Print our free Rally activity pack before you go, and let the kids color one bird for every bridge you cross.
A window-seat story for the Gulf Coast trainRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi’s first train ride and the bird outside his window, painted by hand in watercolor. $13.99 on Amazon, ages 0 to 8.
Buy on Amazon
More for train families
- Every Amtrak route with kids: find another train by city or station
- The complete guide to Amtrak with kids: tickets, car seats, changing tables, family tables and what to pack by age
- Free Rally activity pack and coloring pages to print before your trip
- Crescent with kids
- City of New Orleans with kids
- Sunset Limited with kids
Sources
- Amtrak: Mardi Gras Service route page
- Amtrak: Mardi Gras Service timetable
- Amtrak: Passenger discount for children
- Wikipedia: Mardi Gras Service
- Wikipedia: New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
- Railway Age: Amtrak Mardi Gras Service launch
- Hawkins Rails: Mardi Gras Service route and stations
- Country Roads: All Aboard the Mardi Gras Express
- Garden & Gun: Amtrak’s new Mardi Gras Service
- AFAR: The Mardi Gras train returns
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Ride the rails along coastal Mississippi
- Travels With Kev: Mardi Gras Service route guide
- Great American Stations: Bay Saint Louis
- Great American Stations: Mobile
- FOX10: Amtrak launching $15 Mardi Gras Service
Checked against Amtrak and partner railroad pages in October 2026. Schedules and policies change, so confirm on amtrak.com before you ride.
Mardi Gras Service with kids: questions parents ask
Do kids need a ticket on the Mardi Gras Service?
Yes. Anyone 2 to 12 needs a child ticket at 50 percent off, booked with an adult 18 or older and priced by the age they are when the trip starts. Adult coach seats on this line have started at $15 one way, so an early booking can make a kid's seat very cheap. Several stops have no ticket window, so buy in the Amtrak app or online before you leave home.
Do babies ride free on the Mardi Gras Service?
Yes. Babies younger than two travel free in a parent's arms, one per adult paying the adult fare. Want a seat for the baby, or riding with two babies and one adult? Then that baby is charged the half-price child rate. Coach seats here are reserved two by two, so a lap baby only gets a vacant seat when no one who paid needs it. Book early for Saints home game weekends.
Do I need a car seat on the Mardi Gras Service?
No. Amtrak doesn't permit fastening a car seat to any seat, this train included, so it can only rest on an open seat that no paying rider is using. Because the line has no checked baggage, a car seat comes aboard in place of one of your regular bags. Bring it only if someone will drive you from the Gulfport, Biloxi or Mobile platform.
Are there changing tables on the Mardi Gras Service?
Our research couldn't confirm changing tables on the Mardi Gras Service's Amfleet cars, and no official Amtrak policy covers baby changing, so it varies. Bring a roll-up changing pad; the accessible restroom gives you the most space. The good news is that rides are short: Bay St. Louis is about 1 hour 25 minutes from New Orleans, so a fresh diaper in the terminal may carry you most of the way.
What are the bathrooms like on the Mardi Gras Service?
Each car has restrooms, so the walk is short, and everything is on one floor. A light shows when a restroom is occupied. Walk preschoolers in yourself and warn them before the flush, which is loud. Stops last only 2 to 3 minutes and most stations are just platforms, so do a potty stop at home or in the New Orleans terminal before you board.
Can I bring a stroller on the Mardi Gras Service?
Yes, and the new accessible platforms let you roll it right up to the train door. Riding with a baby? A stroller or diaper bag for a child under 2 doesn't count toward your limits. There's no checked baggage here, so each rider gets a 25-pound personal item and two carry-ons of up to 50 pounds each. Fold a compact stroller before the train pulls in; jogging strollers are harder.
Can I breastfeed or warm a bottle on the Mardi Gras Service?
Yes, you can breastfeed anywhere on board, since it's legal in public in all 50 states. There's a cafe car on this line, not a dining car, so plan bottles yourself: pack formula, water and anything you need to prep. With the whole line under four hours, a couple of ready bottles plus one spare should cover it, even if a bridge opening adds a few minutes.
Is there food on the Mardi Gras Service train?
Yes. The cafe car sells snacks, sandwiches, coffee and soft drinks, plus local treats like muffuletta wedges, pralines, Zapp's chips and Moon Pies. It also has booths, the only spot on board where a family can sit around a table. Bringing your own snacks and drinks is fine, and on the 6:30 a.m. train from Mobile, a packed breakfast helps.
How do I keep kids busy on the Mardi Gras Service?
Start with the water. Heading to Mobile, sit on the right for flashes of the Gulf at the end of side streets; heading to New Orleans, sit on the left. Have kids look for pelicans on old dock posts and race to shout Gulf first. Bring our printable Rally coloring sheets and Rally Takes the Train, which you can read twice on the 19-minute Gulfport to Biloxi hop.
What are the seats like for families on the Mardi Gras Service?
Comfy and simple. Coach seats are reserved, two by two with no middle seats, and each one reclines and has a power outlet. Coach has no four-seat tables, but the cafe car has booths. Business Class, in that same car, adds extra legroom, footrests and one free soft drink, a small treat on a short trip.
Is there a Quiet Car on the Mardi Gras Service?
No Quiet Car shows up in anything we could verify for this line. The platforms are sized for two coaches and the cafe car, so plan on sharing space with everyone aboard. Headphones for tablets are a must. If your train does have a Quiet Car, it's whispers only, phones stay off and screens stay silent, a tall order for a toddler on a bridge full of pelicans.
What should I pack for kids on the Mardi Gras Service?
Pack light, because this line has no checked bags. New Orleans to Mobile takes about 3 hours 45 minutes, so a diaper bag, snacks, water, one change of clothes, a light layer for the cold air conditioning and a favorite toy per kid covers it. Bringing the family pet? Small dogs and cats in carriers are allowed on this route. Add sunscreen for a Bay St. Louis beach day and our counting and tracing pages.
Can my toddler nap on the Mardi Gras Service?
Yes, and the timetable helps. The 7:35 a.m. train from New Orleans and the 6:30 a.m. train from Mobile leave early enough that a toddler may finish a morning nap aboard. The evening trains, out of New Orleans at 5:31 p.m. and Mobile at 4:30 p.m., arrive near bedtime. There are no sleeper rooms on this line, so bring a small blanket for the reclining seat.
What is the best first ride on the Mardi Gras Service?
Try New Orleans to Gulfport for the day. The 7:35 a.m. train arrives at 9:24 a.m., a few blocks from the Mississippi Aquarium with its shark walkway, touch tanks and otters, and the 6:01 p.m. train gets you home by 8:13 p.m. Want shorter? New Orleans to Bay St. Louis takes about 1 hour 25 minutes, with depot museums right beside the platform.
Can kids ride the Mardi Gras Service alone?
No Amtrak train, this one included, lets a child 12 or under ride alone. Teens 13 to 15 may ride solo only through the unaccompanied minor program, booked by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL, on daytime trains, between staffed stations, without transfers, at the adult price. On this line that's a real limit, since several Coast stops and Mobile are platforms without a ticket office. Teens 16 and 17 can ride on their own.
How early should we get to the station for the Mardi Gras Service?
Aim for about 30 minutes early. Stops last only 2 to 3 minutes and the train won't wait, so be on the platform with shoes on, bags zipped and the stroller folded. The conductor lowers the steps right at your door. New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal has a ticket window and waiting room, while several Coast stops and Mobile are platforms only.
What if my child gets nervous on the Mardi Gras Service?
Tell them about the bridges first. East of New Orleans the train rolls onto the Rigolets trestle, about 4,555 feet long, with water on both sides, and some bridges open for boats, so the train may stop and wait. Call it bird-watching time. If the horn startles them, read Rally's tunnel page, where a scary moment ends in sunshine, and keep a hand to hold.
Is the Mardi Gras Service safe for kids?
Yes, with normal train habits. Keep a firm grip on small hands while you wait and stand well back from the platform line, since stops last only 2 to 3 minutes and boarding goes fast. Once you're moving, kids stay in their seats or hang on to something, hold a hand on the walk to the cafe car, and keep shoes on. The windows don't open, which is one less thing to watch.
What if the Mardi Gras Service is late?
Bridge openings for boats can add a few minutes, so build in a little slack. Open the Amtrak app to see where your train is, and look for travel advisories, before heading to a platform, since several stops have no waiting room. Pack extra snacks and a spare diaper. On the evening trains, a delay can push arrival past bedtime, so tuck pajamas and a free fill-in train ticket page into the bag.
What do we do if the Mardi Gras Service coaches are full?
Sit as near each other as you can, ideally within arm's reach of the kids, then check the other coach once the train is moving. With only two coaches plus the cafe car, it's a quick look. A seat holding a purse or backpack can be freed up, because bags don't get their own seat. The cafe car booths also give a family a spot together for a while.
Is it OK to ask another rider to trade seats with us on the Mardi Gras Service?
Yes, if you ask right away, before people unpack, and keep it simple: you have a 3-year-old and hope to sit together. Coach seats are two by two with no middle seats, so offer a like-for-like swap, and leave Gulf-side window riders alone unless you have another window to give. If they say no, thank them and ask the conductor, who can check the other coach for open pairs.
Is the Mardi Gras Service a new train?
It's a train that came back. Passenger service along this coast stopped after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the storm destroyed major bridges and damaged 110 miles of track. The Mardi Gras Service started on August 18, 2025, opening-day seats sold out in less than 24 hours, and it passed 100,000 riders by April 2026. Every stop got a new accessible platform.