FOLEY, Ala. — Stan Virden of Gulf Shores admits he’s about the only person in South Baldwin who has an interest in the upcoming Alabama High-Speed Rail Conference set for Friday, Jan. 8, in Birmingham. But Virden believes interest will mount once the Port of Mobile develops a container terminal that will eventually dump more container loads on I-65.

In Virden’s opinion, that’s eventually going to make travel north on the interstate “really uncomfortable” to say the least.

“I think I’m Don Quixote on this,” he said recently of interest in high-speed rail transportation.

The reason he believes so few people at present are uninterested in seeing high speed rail transportation become a reality is that not many people in South Baldwin have a lot of experience with trains.

“I used to ride the trains everywhere when I was a kid,” said Virden of being in Illinois during World War II.

Points in favor of developing a high-speed passenger rail system are a couple that Virden makes.

“Air travel is getting to be a real horror show,” he said.

And the Obama Administration is in favor of pushing such high-speed passenger rail service.

On the down side, Virden said should passenger rail service get a boost from a national perspective, he’s uncertain how fast the state of Alabama could react to it.

“There is no overall comprehensive plan for transportation (in the state),” Virden said. According to him, in essence, “We have a Highway Department,” as opposed to a Department of Transportation in Alabama.

While he doesn’t know it for a fact, Virden believes Louisiana and Mississippi are thinking farther ahead on the subject of high-speed passenger rail service than Alabama.

Those three states are members of the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission which was founded in 1981 “to improve mobility and access for passenger rail users in” the three states.

Alabama Commission members include Gov. Bob Riley and Elizabeth S. Sanders, executive director of Downtown Mobile District Management Corp./Downtown Mobile Alliance.

Attempts to reach Sanders prior to the New Year’s holiday when this article was being prepared proved unsuccessful. The same was true for others who were on the preliminary agenda for the Birmingham conference to be held at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel located at 808 S. 20th St.

The purpose of the conference is to brief state officials, transportation leaders and high-speed rail advocates about high-speed rail service in the “Gulf Coast Corridor” that includes Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration Web site, since Dec. 18, 1991, 11 high-speed rail corridors have been authorized. Five of those came under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, known as ISTEA. Six were authorized under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).

The Gulf Coast high-speed rail corridor was designated Nov. 18, 1998, in New Orleans.

According to the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission Web site, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 “defines High-Speed Rail service as intercity passenger rail service that is reasonably expected to reach speeds of at least 110 miles per hour.” Long distance trains currently in operation in the Gulf South are limited to a maximum speed of 79 miles per hour.

While high-speed passenger rail service for Alabama might be only a visionary thing at this point, Stan Virden believes if it ever connects as it’s supposed to do it will make travel from South Baldwin to Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville and points west (New Orleans) fast and safe. On top of that, he said, passengers will arrive “rested.” For him, that’s worth it, even if a South Baldwin resident had to go to Atmore to catch the train.

Virden said circumstances will prohibit his attendance at the Alabama High-Speed Rail Conference on Friday, but he’s anxious to talk to anybody from his area who attends.