Passenger Rail Between Atlanta and Columbus (Macon, Marietta: live, price, airport)

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

I agree with your assessment. Flying to Columbus from Atlanta is a waste. Columbus is only 85 miles from Hartsfield. Rail would make a lot more sense. There are a lot of people who fly into Atlanta and go Columbus for business. Keep in mind Columbus is home to some of Georgia's largest corporations (Aflac, TSYS, Synovus, Carmike Cinemas, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, Char-Broil, and one of the world's largest military bases, Fort Benning). With the new urban whitewater course coming online next Spring and the continued expansion of Fort Benning, there are hundreds of thousands of people visiting every year. Keep in mind Auburn/Opelika are only 25 mins west. That creates an area of well over 500,000 people.

True, but how many of those folks would take a train instead of driving, and what's the payback for +/- 85 miles of new rail? Based on estimated costs of high speed rail construction that range from $15 million to $40 million per mile (according to several varied sources), you're looking at a project that's easily $1 billion, and could be up to 3x that much. Add in operating costs, maintenance, etc., and you've got quite a bit of money being spent.

If I-85 and I-185 were overloaded, I could see that there might be enough demand for a high speed rail line, but every time I make the drive to Columbus, the roads are practically empty once you get South of Newnan.

Even the Atlanta to Savannah line would never see enough passenger traffic to be even remotely close to being economically viable. Maybe that's why Amtrak will never even come close to turning a profit, so why create another government-run entity that will continue to suck money from the taxpayers to serve so few people?

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by cqholt

I am sure there were people in the 1950's that thought the same thing of the Interstate Highway System.

The difference is, the highway system was put in place as a way to move the military, and it still serves that purpose, as well as serving as a means of travel for people and freight. Over 70% of all freight still moves via truck.

The South will never see the use of rail like you see in the Northeast. The major cities there are closer together, and much larger. The smaller cities in between reap the benefit of their location by being able to tap into the lines that run from Boston to DC, but they wouldn't have that opportunity if those large cities didn't exist.

[brownhornet]

This is something I could actually use if they put a stop in Lagrange.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

Give me $299,999 and I'll share the results of my study.

Hint: It is a stupid idea. Now give me my money.

Here:

"$299,999"

It's in ASCII format, but you never specified how you wanted it.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by cqholt

I think it would make sense as part of the Georgia Intercity rail system. Connecting LaGrange, Newnan, Union City, Peachtree City, Fayettevile, ATL Airport, College Park, East Point, Downtown Atlanta. Use existing rail corridor.

But why would we need it? We have roads for cars and buses to connect them.

I am sure there were people in the 1950's that thought the same thing of the Interstate Highway System.

Possibly some. But the general idea was embraced by Hitler so Germany had an Autobahn system prior to the war. Anecdotally, I heard the the US was impressed by the system during occupation. As noted above, under Eisenhower, it was called the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Its justification was to give us the capability of moving troops in case of war. They were even built to have long straight stretches capable of supporting aircraft.

[cqholt]

Yes, because hitler was such a great visionary. Thanks to interstates we have sprawl, obesity epidemic, air pollution, and congestion.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Yes, because hitler was such a great visionary. Thanks to interstates we have sprawl, obesity epidemic, air pollution, and congestion.

I strongly suspect there are additional factors at work.

Are you sure that air travel isn't causing the above?

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Yes, because hitler was such a great visionary. Thanks to interstates we have sprawl, obesity epidemic, air pollution, and congestion.

Well, now we have a scapegoat. We should demand that Germany pay us reparations to close down our Nazi interstate system and build a Progressive HSR system instead. Oh wait...we built those highways willingly.

And under Hitler, jet planes and rockets were developed. Well, guess we'll have to go back to propeller planes. Trips out of Hartsfield-Jackson will just take a little longer and be noisier. And close down NASA dammit. The International Space Station has Nazi influences.

[testa50]

Columbus seems like the least feasible option for a starter rail line from Atlanta.

The following cities are served direct from downtown Atlanta by the following freight railroads:

Macon - NS (2 lines)
Athens - CSX
Chattanooga - NS & CSX
Charlotte - NS
Augusta - CSX
Birmingham - NS
Auburn/Montgomery - CSX
Columbus - None. Take CSX to Opelika, and switch to NS.

It's nearly impossible to make this sort of thing work as it is. Getting a second Class I railroad involved in the process just makes it that much more difficult.

Also, the article says nothing about "high speed" rail. People are fixated on that term. This appears to just be commuter rail. Commuter rail is widespread throughout the country, and many times they are more "lines to nowhere" than we are talking about here. The fact that we are able to put a reasonable-size city at the other end of a commuter rail line is a good thing.

Atlanta - Columbus just seems like it's maybe the least feasible route we could conjure up. Maybe if Atlanta - Auburn - Montgomery got going we could evaluate it as a spur line in the future. I put those above routes in my perceived order of the seriousness with which they are being considered. The fact that Macon has a redundant Class I rail line is no mistake.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

I don't see it ever happening. The cost of high-speed rail is pretty steep, and I can't imagine the ridership between Columbus and Atlanta would ever be large enough to justify it. Unless, of course, it was another federally subsidized boondoggle that never generates enough revenue to cover even a fraction of it's cost.

I agree that there are many rail lines that make A LOT more sense than this...at least economically.