The new Amtrak station in Marks has arrived and will be a huge asset to many surrounding communities, including Coahoma County. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was Friday night and many public officials from throughout the state were present to witness the historic event.
It is historic for Coahoma County, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the region with all of the blues clubs, festivals, history, museums and much more.
However, prior to having a train station just 25 minutes away in Marks, the closest forms of public transportation by train was about 90 minutes away in Greenwood.
Now, that same Amtrak train that stops in Greenwood also stops in Marks. The train stops in Memphis, Tenn., too, which is an hour and 40 minutes from Clarksdale. Memphis International Airport is also an hour and 40 minutes from Clarksdale.
Beginning two weeks from now, the City of New Orleans Train going southbound will stop in Marks at 8:01 a.m. and going northbound will stop in Marks at 8:31 p.m.
This provides a huge opportunity for those who want to visit some of our biggest and best attractions. Hopefully, we will see a greater turnout at next year’s Juke Joint Festival, the biggest of all the festivals in Clarksdale, thanks to Amtrak stopping in Marks.
Amtrak will benefit many other surrounding communities, including Tunica, Cleveland and Helena-West Helena, Ark.
We cannot exist in a vacuum. What goes on in one community impacts another, whether we are dealing with social or economic issues or our lifestyle.
The key is how we take advantage of the new train station. We cannot sit by idle and expect Clarksdale and Coahoma County to just grow with Amtrak and the people of Marks doing all the work. We must take responsibility ourselves.
When we get a new director of tourism, he or she must utilize the train station, work with Amtrak and let people know getting to Clarksdale and Coahoma County is easier than ever. Business owners must reach out to tourists and customers who are not local. Those who oversee our festivals must do the same.
Each of us must do our part to take care of the train station, whether we have cleanups that involve different communities coming together or just not littering or destroying property.
Too often, many good things happen, but a select few individuals do all of the work. That only causes those who care to eventually get discouraged. We are too small a community and region to rely on someone else to get things accomplished.
Many leaders in Quitman County and surrounding communities, along with Jackson and Washington, D.C., worked tirelessly for 20 years to make sure we had an Amtrak train station in Marks. The train station is now here.
Let’s keep our foot on the gas and use the train station as a rallying point to continue economic growth.
Josh Troy is managing editor of The Clarksdale Press Register. He can be reached at 662-627-2201 or by email at jtroy@pressregister.com.
