Report: Marietta mayor to propose trolley, Cobb Galleria-like development (Atlanta: sales, home)

[JMatl]

^I have a feeling this Legislative session is going to be very interesting...

[Tryska]

Originally Posted by skbl17

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume this is sarcasm. If so, well done.

- skbl17

Thank you.

[lem1985]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

I agree. The bus system here just sucks. Everything sucks in Atlanta. It's the city that never seems to do anything right.

Seattle is the city Atlanta wants to be.

well just leave atlanta then damn if it sucks too you that bad nobody is keeping you in atlanta

[Tryska]

[RedClear55]

The Marietta trolly concept could be a building block for regional transit. I've driven through the downtowns of Acworth, Kennesaw, Marietta and Smyrna... all are nice but somewhat limited in scope for tourism. If you could expand their reach, as is being suggested in Marietta, then conceivably a regional connection could bring more tourism dollars. I look at the existing railroad connecting these communities to Atlanta and wonder if a commuter rail (like LIRR in Long Island) would be possible.

[Columbuskidd92]

Already happening in Columbus

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by RedClear55

The Marietta trolly concept could be a building block for regional transit. I've driven through the downtowns of Acworth, Kennesaw, Marietta and Smyrna... all are nice but somewhat limited in scope for tourism. If you could expand their reach, as is being suggested in Marietta, then conceivably a regional connection could bring more tourism dollars. I look at the existing railroad connecting these communities to Atlanta and wonder if a commuter rail (like LIRR in Long Island) would be possible.

Those are some excellent points that a concept like Marietta trolley concept could potentially be building block for regional transit and that a regional high-capacity transit connection could bring more tourism dollars to areas like Marietta, Acworth, Kennesaw and Smyrna.

Using the existing freight railroad (the state-owned and CSX-controlled Western & Atlantic Railroad) to implement that regional high-capacity transit connection in the form of regional commuter rail service through Cobb County is also an excellent idea.

Though, the biggest challenge with (and probably main impediment to) attempting to use the existing freight railroad line (the W&A Railroad line) to implement regional commuter rail service to and through Cobb County is that the W&A's existing tracks already seem to be operating either at or over maximum capacity with just freight rail service alone.

(...The stretch of CSX/W&A track between Downtown Atlanta and Cartersville is one of the busiest stretches of freight rail track on the North American continent.)

Because attempting to operate regional commuter rail service on the already very busy existing freight rail tracks would likely be extremely difficult (and because the existing freight rail tracks most likely would not be able to provide the level of passenger rail service that corridor would need going forward as the area continues to grow), the best option to implement high-capacity passenger rail transit service along the W&A corridor would most likely be to construct a new set of passenger rail-dedicated tracks on which to operate passenger trains along the existing W&A corridor northwest of Atlanta through Cobb County.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Those are some excellent points that a concept like Marietta trolley concept could potentially be building block for regional transit and that a regional high-capacity transit connection could bring more tourism dollars to areas like Marietta, Acworth, Kennesaw and Smyrna.

Cobb already has CCT, if they aren't serious about transit, then a cutsey little "trolley" isn't going to serve as a catalyst for anything.

Using the existing freight railroad (the state-owned and CSX-controlled Western & Atlantic Railroad) to implement that regional high-capacity transit connection in the form of regional commuter rail service through Cobb County is also an excellent idea.

Though, the biggest challenge with (and probably main impediment to) attempting to use the existing freight railroad line (the W&A Railroad line) to implement regional commuter rail service to and through Cobb County is that the W&A's existing tracks already seem to be operating either at or over maximum capacity with just freight rail service alone.

(...The stretch of CSX/W&A track between Downtown Atlanta and Cartersville is one of the busiest stretches of freight rail track on the North American continent.)

Because attempting to operate regional commuter rail service on the already very busy existing freight rail tracks would likely be extremely difficult (and because the existing freight rail tracks most likely would not be able to provide the level of passenger rail service that corridor would need going forward as the area continues to grow), the best option to implement high-capacity passenger rail transit service along the W&A corridor would most likely be to construct a new set of passenger rail-dedicated tracks on which to operate passenger trains along the existing W&A corridor northwest of Atlanta through Cobb County.

Wrong. CSX's own traffic survey listed that route as having surplus capacity, and that's in the existing state of being a 35mph single-track railroad. Add a second track, and any capacity issues go away.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

Already happening in Columbus

A bus with a skirt on it. Maybe put some lipstick on it and Cobb county residents will use it.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Columbuskidd92

Already happening in Columbus

I like it. Columbus is doing some great things.