Commuter Rail?? (I'm confused) (Atlanta, Macon: how much, college, live)

[Rod_moore]

I apologize in advance If I'm being ignorant but I couldn't find what I was looking for on here. But,there's been talk about the commuter rail. I just moved here less than a year ago and the traffic is crazzzzy OTP so I'm just curious to know a little more about this.

1) When will this happen?
2) What areas of the metro will the commuter rail be? Is there a map?

I think this is probably the BIGGEST thing that I hate about atlanta. Coming from the chicago area, the Metra was one of the biggest additions to the city. I think it will do wonders for Atlanta metro.

[tonygeorgia]

Are you the type that moved far away from your job and now you are complaining about your commute?

[Rod_moore]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

Are you the type that moved far away from your job and now you are complaining about your commute?

um no.. I live 15 mins from my job and my job is the opposite direction of the city so I go AGAINST the traffic. With that being said, it still doesn't mean that I don't want to catch the commuter rail to the city. So, do you have the answers or not?

[jematl]

I was at a community meeting not too long ago and there was discussion about the "Brain Train" (commuter rail connecting Athens to Atl). We were told that if it gets approved it would be 20-30 years before it is built. I don't know how accurate that is, but it gives you the general idea that we are not likely to see any commuter rail anytime soon.

[JPD]

I think it's highly unlikely we'll see commuter rail in Atlanta in our lifetime. There was a huge push for the Brain Train a few years ago, which would have connected Athens to Atlanta, with a bunch of stops in between, but now the idea is basically dead in the water. If it existed, I'd use it every day to get to work.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Rod_moore

you guys are some of the most RUDE people on earth. I moved to where I could be in decent proximity of my job. If you're going to be rude and not answer the question then just get out of the thread. I asked some simple questions not for all the idiotic comments.

Rod - I'm sorry for the obvious mistreatment here. Some folks.... Unfortunately, I don't know any specific details about the commuter rail situation, other than to know that if it ever happens, it will be years in the making. There are discussions of a line from Atlanta to Lovejoy (south) and a line from Atlanta to Athens (colloquially called the Brain Train, as it would link Emory and UGA). Those may be in the transportation wish list that will be presented to the new transportation district's voters for approval. There is a thread on CD somewhere discussing all of this. I'll see if I can find it for you. In the meantime, rude folks, if you cannot say something nice, just don't say anything at all.

[JPD]

After two or three years of not even having a functioning website, there is once again some web presence. Hopefully this is a good sign that some generations after I'm dead and gone, people of the future will have some real transportation options in this region.

Georgia Brain Train Group - A Commuter Rail, passenger train, Atlanta rail, college connector rail

[Rod_moore]

thank you guys for your responses. This is exactly what I was looking for. Also, thanks for being an adult and not being rude.. :-)

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Rod_moore

1) When will this happen?
2) What areas of the metro will the commuter rail be? Is there a map?

1) I moved to Atlanta in 1984 and they were talking about then. It's 27 years later and...well...

The issue: A VERY fragmented metro government system that has never worked well with each other, including a very strong "Us vs Them" mentality with Georgia leaders in the way they view the city of Atlanta. Only in very recent times have they started to catch on as to how much money Atlanta pumps into the State economy, and when some companies announced they are avoiding setting up shop in Atlanta due to traffic/lack of transit, it started making State leaders take notice.... some.


2) There have been a variety of maps over the years of "proposed" routes. Various monies given to studies which usually just go toward City and State leaders using it to take vacations to other cities to "study" their transit systems. They usually come back with useless proposed routes such as Atlanta to Macon, while ignoring Atlanta to Chattanooga/NW GA, Atlanta to Athens, etc.


Result: Eventually, Atlanta will have commuter rail. You most likely will not be seeing it within the next decade. Keep in mind the oil companies are still very much active behind the scenes, and they usually step in to "nudge" leaders into alternate proposals, such as using "BRT" (Bus Rapid Transit) systems instead of rail, etc. This happened decades ago in L.A. (dig a bit and you can find stories about it) - and it still goes on today. So in order for Atlanta to have an effective commuter rail system, it's going to take communication/cooperation between metro governments, State funding, and people who won't allow the oil companies to influence it - A LOT of "ifs".

[cwkimbro]

The ultimate problem is the state, which is mainly controlled by a very, very conservative rural and exurban/suburban voting base that tend to be anti- any kind of transit.

We have tons of tiny counties that can only work together through either state spending or a state created organization (MARTA, GRTA, etc..)

In the mid-90s the state DOT came up with formal plans for a fully expanded rail system in the area. The state even received 90% federal funding for one route (to lovejoy). State leaders refused to spend it for over a decade, because using federal money requires guaranteeing -operating costs- for 10 years.

-A few of the planned lines to the Northwest aren't feasible without adding a fair amount of additional track. Mostly to the northwest. There is a huge freight bottleneck going towards Chattanooga/Chicago.

-To start operating lines to the northeast and east the Howell Mill rail junction needs to be reconfigured to increase capacity. This includes...Gainesville, Athens, St. Mountain. (Basically two rail operators have a single junction with 3 different spurs each)

Moving forward... The two things to watch and the two most likely things to happen first (given existing obstacles) is a line south to Clayton Co and possibly extended to Macon for regional service. There is alot of rail capacity going south of Downtown that makes the upstart possible. Norfolk Southern also has two tracks (on different corridors) going to Macon, so with moderate investments on one corridor would create alot of room for passenger rail and extra freight capacity.

I would also watch for the outcome of the public-private initiative for a station downtown. The state is trying to leverage development rights of offices and retail over and next to the station to help pay for it, which will make it more likely to happen.

Either way in a good case scenario it will be awhile and action of some type will have to be taken by the state and the GDOT.

GDOT Map: http://www.dot.state.ga.us/traveling...terRailMap.pdf
State Passenger Rail Plan: Passenger Rail
*Of course, none of this will happen unless state leaders agree to fund it one way or another.