BATON ROUGE - It has been nearly 56 years since Baton Rouge had passenger train service, and with the opening of the Mardi Gras Line, there is already talk of expansion within Amtrak.

"The opportunity is there to try and connect the two largest cities, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, in the state. Of course, everyone knows we have LSU football games and the New Orleans Saints," State Rep. Dixon McMakin said.

In 1969, the Southern Belle made its last pass through Baton Rouge. The Kansas City Southern Railroad abandoned the line when it was no longer profitable. The New Orleans to Mobile line disappeared after Hurricane Katrina.

McMakin was one of several state officials from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to ride the Mardi Gras Line as it opened services transporting residents from New Orleans to Mobile. McMakin also said there are plans to put the station near the Electric Depot on Government Street.

Other stops that have been discussed in the past include the Health District near Bluebonnet Boulevard and Downtown Gonzales. While nothing has been finalized for a station in Baton Rouge, McMakin says he and other state officials will analyze data to evaluate the chances.

"So the data course will tell us if people, we know if people buy a ticket in Amtrak where they're from, where their hometown is, using that data," he said. "Amtrak is also designated a bus line from Baton Rouge to New Orleans to see if people want to do that as well, but in the age of technology, we know where the people are coming from, where they're heading, so we're going to start tracking that data."

Amtrak will offer bus service from Baton Rouge to the New Orleans station for connections to the rail service's direct route along the Gulf Coast to Mobile, Alabama.