Legislation supporting high-speed passenger rail lines along the Gulf Coast and between New Orleans and Baton Rouge could soon reach Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk.

Louisiana House Bill 1410, would create a board of directors responsible for finding alternative sources of revenue to fund portions of the project rather than relying heavily on federal funding. Jindal had criticized a previous proposal to connect rail lines because it included an application for $300 million in federal stimulus money. He said he supported the idea of high-speed rail lines, but he wanted the funds to come from a different source.

The bill will go to the Senate floor for a vote on Thursday.

State Rep. Michael L. Jackson, I-Baton Rouge, sponsored the legislation, which outlines perceived inadequacies in federal funding for larger transportation projects, many of which have strong support from Louisiana business owners.

“Public sources of revenues, including federal funding, that provide an efficient transportation system have not kept pace with the state’s growing population and transportation needs,” the bill reads.

At a news conference Tuesday, Mayors Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans and Kip Holden of Baton Rouge pledged their support of the rail line, saying that it would bring much-needed business to both cities. The line is part of a larger proposal to create high-speed travel along the Gulf Coast that was drafted by the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission in partnership with the Mississippi and Alabama transportation departments. The total cost of renovating and rebuilding existing rail lines among the Gulf states would be $447,789,409, according to a March report by the commission.

Under this proposal, the New Orleans-Baton Rouge line would travel at a maximum speed of 79 mph, with eight stops between the two cities. Fares would be $10 one way, with a travel time of one hour and 24 minutes, about the same time it can take to drive the approximately 80 miles between the two cities.

Jackson said the public response to the rail proposal has been generally positive.

Once the state passed up the opportunity to apply for federal stimulus funds for the rail project, Jackson said, state legislators had more time to develop interest in the rail line.

“The bottom line is that this needs to happen for a lot of obvious reasons,” Jackson said. “We’re glad to be in a position now to have as many people as possible on board to say this transportation effort is going to happen.”

Jackson said he was confident Jindal would sign the bill.

Estimates on when construction on the rail line could begin are still up in the air. Jackson’s bill does not include specific language indicating when the line would be completed. Instead, the bill is intended to be a step toward funding and implementation of the passenger line in the future, Jackson said.

Warren Flatou, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said, “The states alone are making a determination whether they are going to seek funding for any purpose.” He said that “in subsequent rounds it’s conceivable that the state may seek federal funding, but we have no way to predict what the state will or will not do.”

Jackson said language that would lock the state into a timetable for building the line had to be omitted from the bill to ensure Jindal’s signature.

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