Amtrak proposed new Nashville-Atlanta line (Memphis, Knoxville: landscaping, maintenance, cost)

[yellowcat123]

http://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/u...-Statement.pdf
https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...an/4839151001/

Amtrak has proposed new passenger lines through Nashville and Chattanooga. They would run to Atlanta. This proposal is part of Biden's Infrastructure Plan would need to go through Congress first...



Here is an article which talks about Amtrak's shut down of the Floridian line which serviced Nashville in the 70's.
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/wh...e-in-the-1970s

[yellowcat123]

I don't have a lot of experience with Rail information. But I was curious to know how long a trip would take from Nashville to Atlanta via Amtrak.

Doing some googling I found this information from 2016:
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...Y2016-0717.pdf

Amtrak operates a nationwide rail network, serving more than 500 destinations in 46
states, the District of Columbia and three Canadian provinces, on more than 21,300 miles
of routes. It is the nation’s only high-speed intercity passenger rail provider, operating at
speeds up to 150 mph (241 kph) over current infrastructure. More than half of Amtrak
trains operate at top speeds of 100 mph (160 kph) or greater.

It seems as if their Nashville-Atlanta line would plan to take advantage of the current freight lines. However if that is true I don't think we would be getting those high-speed rail speeds. We could be getting 100mph or less. (Not saying that is bad, but it's not their best speeds. Still better than nothing.)

With that knowledge, if you estimate 250 miles between NSH-ATL at 100mph then we're looking at around 2hr 30min to make the trip. The current drive time is estimated around 3hour 50min. So I really wonder how many people would see the value proposition in losing your car in Atlanta to save 1hr 20min on the trip.



Amtrak also mention's that they are working on next generation high-speed trains

The trainsets will operate initially at speeds up to 160 mph
(257 kph) and will be capable of speeds up to 186 mph
(299 kph)

I would hope that if their starting goal in Tennessee is to initially take advantage of the current freight lines, then their near-future plans would be to build those next generation routes here as a long-term solution. Where then the time to commute drops from 2hr 30 min to 1hr 30min with the 160mph capabilities. Otherwise I'm not sure how successful they will be; I would hate for something like this to start up again only to shut down again like the 70's.

[BuffaloHome]

It's a shame that there's no proposed passenger rail to connect Memphis - Nashville - Knoxville - Tri Cities - and on into Virginia and the Northeast.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by BuffaloHome

It's a shame that there's no proposed passenger rail to connect Memphis - Nashville - Knoxville - Tri Cities - and on into Virginia and the Northeast.

There is no railroad that goes from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville to the Tri-Cities. The best you can do is go from Bristol thru Knoxville to Chattanooga.

The CSX line from Nashville to Chattanooga and Atlanta last used by passenger trains in the 1960's. Figure 4 hours to Chattanooga, 3 more to Atlanta average speed 48mph. Maybe save an hour going west. Too many hills & curves to go much faster.

[grampaTom]

Originally Posted by yellowcat123

I don't have a lot of experience with Rail information. But I was curious to know how long a trip would take from Nashville to Atlanta via Amtrak.

Doing some googling I found this information from 2016:
https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...Y2016-0717.pdf




It seems as if their Nashville-Atlanta line would plan to take advantage of the current freight lines. However if that is true I don't think we would be getting those high-speed rail speeds. We could be getting 100mph or less. (Not saying that is bad, but it's not their best speeds. Still better than nothing.)

With that knowledge, if you estimate 250 miles between NSH-ATL at 100mph then we're looking at around 2hr 30min to make the trip. The current drive time is estimated around 3hour 50min. So I really wonder how many people would see the value proposition in losing your car in Atlanta to save 1hr 20min on the trip.



Amtrak also mention's that they are working on next generation high-speed trains


I would hope that if their starting goal in Tennessee is to initially take advantage of the current freight lines, then their near-future plans would be to build those next generation routes here as a long-term solution. Where then the time to commute drops from 2hr 30 min to 1hr 30min with the 160mph capabilities. Otherwise I'm not sure how successful they will be; I would hate for something like this to start up again only to shut down again like the 70's.

Unless they stop in Chattanooga. It COULD wind up taking longer to go by train than by driving.

[2nd trick op]

Just another pipe-dream drawn up by functionaries who have little (or no) knowledge of actual rail operating constraints.

[shinestx]

Originally Posted by GWoodle

There is no railroad that goes from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville to the Tri-Cities. The best you can do is go from Bristol thru Knoxville to Chattanooga.

The CSX line from Nashville to Chattanooga and Atlanta last used by passenger trains in the 1960's. Figure 4 hours to Chattanooga, 3 more to Atlanta average speed 48mph. Maybe save an hour going west. Too many hills & curves to go much faster.

But isn't the whole point of this multi-trillion dollar bill supposed to be about building rail lines to connect the big gaps? As noted Memphis to Knoxville and points east is a huge gap. But the one that 'jumps out' at me is the gap between Chicago and Atlanta. So with all the billions of billions of dollars, there's no provision to create lines between Cincinnati-Louisville-Nashville with spurs over to Memphis and Knoxville?

The more I look through this bill, the more it smacks of just a bone to key constituent groups of the administration. When has the government ever done anything that made sense? A long time ago.

[yellowcat123]

Originally Posted by GWoodle

There is no railroad that goes from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville to the Tri-Cities. The best you can do is go from Bristol thru Knoxville to Chattanooga.

The CSX line from Nashville to Chattanooga and Atlanta last used by passenger trains in the 1960's. Figure 4 hours to Chattanooga, 3 more to Atlanta average speed 48mph. Maybe save an hour going west. Too many hills & curves to go much faster.

Pragmatically, I really can't see how this would be successful if we're talking about 7 hour trips one-way to Atlanta from Nashville. At that point any money used to take advantage of existing lines seems like it would be a waste in this case (assuming they can't improve those speeds). Better to save and just build something competitive and modern.

[mattec]

Originally Posted by GWoodle

There is no railroad that goes from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville to the Tri-Cities. The best you can do is go from Bristol thru Knoxville to Chattanooga.

The CSX line from Nashville to Chattanooga and Atlanta last used by passenger trains in the 1960's. Figure 4 hours to Chattanooga, 3 more to Atlanta average speed 48mph. Maybe save an hour going west. Too many hills & curves to go much faster.

There's actually only a short gap that would need to be rebuilt between Monterey and Crossville. The Tennessee Central RR operated a Knoxville to Nashville route until the 1950s and continued to run freight on it into the 1960s. The portion between Monterey and Crossville was abandoned and dismantled by the L&N in the 1980s.

[Reilly1017]

It’s amazing to me how quickly people dismiss ideas like this. You have two major cities, one growing and the other growing rapidly, and a proposal to have convenient travel between them is met with such skepticism an negativity just because you think it would be too slow or you wouldn’t use it. We advance the infrastructure in this country by making roads better, bridges more stable, and connection points between hubs where more and more vehicles are not clogging roads.

I’m not saying it’s good, bad, etc. However if my city had a new connection point to another major city, that’s a good thing overall and if actually moved toward and voted yes, would likely have some benefits. Maybe not full $1 for $1 benefits, but overall improve things.

Some projects will be like swimming pools. Sure, the existing homeowner that puts it in is gonna get hosed (huge costs, landscaping, maintenance, etc etc etc) and in the end you can’t use it year round and if you calculate the number of uses by the total cost it seems not worth it. BUT those times your kids are swimming on a hot day, having a pool party, and loving it, it’s great. AND when you sell the house, the next owner will enjoy it as well, and see even more value because they didn’t go thru the hassle and expense of being the one to put it in. A project like this might be a pool. Doesn’t mean it should be voted yes, but it doesn’t have to be some perfect plan with no flaws to be considered a reasonable idea to move infrastructure forward