What are the chances of the ATL getting more Amtrak service? (Atlanta: purchasing, price)

[SEAandATL]

Why not Atlantic Station? The Crescent Line goes right by there. They just need to build a new updated station there, and have a connecting commuter rail line to Cobb, that continues on to Arts Center or Midtown. The downtown MMPT could be used for commuter and Amtrak (or some type of intercity lines) going East and South (Macon/Savannah, Florida).

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

Why not Atlantic Station? The Crescent Line goes right by there. They just need to build a new updated station there, and have a connecting commuter rail line to Cobb, that continues on to Arts Center or Midtown. The downtown MMPT could be used for commuter and Amtrak (or some type of intercity lines) going East and South (Macon/Savannah, Florida).

No MARTA rail access.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

1. Isn't there a proposal to move the current station to Doraville? That would let people long-term, something they can't do at the current station, which might increase ridership.

2. I would love to see a route that runs south to Florida via Macon, and north to Chattanooga, Nashville, and ultimately Chicago. Not having a direct connection to the Midwest is a big missing link on our current setup.

It is kind of ironic that there's not a line from Chattanooga, as that was literally the entire point of Atlanta.

[cqholt]

Atlanta and Georgia will fall behind NC and other states if we don't get our act together on an improved commuter and intercity rail station.

There will also be space for retail, offices and events.
The cost of the project now sits at $100 million in local, state and federal funding. But Baldwin also sees a big payoff.

Construction continues on Raleigh's Union Station :: WRAL.com

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Atlanta and Georgia will fall behind NC and other states if we don't get our act together on an improved commuter and intercity rail station.

We're behind Florida now, at least SoFL. I live in Jacksonville so that is one city to look at if you want to feel better about Atlanta. All JAX as for any type of rail whatsoever is the monorail in downtown.

Btw, next year the Peachtree Amtrak station will be 100 years old.

I think a line from Atlanta via Macon to Orlando would be beneficial, with stops in Tifton, Valdosta, Lake City, Gainesville, and Ocala.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

We're behind Florida now, at least SoFL. I live in Jacksonville so that is one city to look at if you want to feel better about Atlanta. All JAX as for any type of rail whatsoever is the monorail in downtown.

Btw, next year the Peachtree Amtrak station will be 100 years old.

I think a line from Atlanta via Macon to Orlando would be beneficial, with stops in Tifton, Valdosta, Lake City, Gainesville, and Ocala.

So a stupid question, but what are the issues with the Atlanta Peachtree Amtrak station? I've never ridden Amtrak from there(nor the Crescent line, but I want to someday), and I take it that it's a small station for the high number of riders that board there? And that there isn't a lot of room for other things like dropping off/picking up passengers, parking, etc? Correct me if my understanding from skimming over the posts/threads elsewhere(mainly on Amtrak United/amtraktrains.com), is the case.

There used to be an Amtrak line from Chicago that went south to Florida, and serviced cities like Indy, Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, and Montgomery. Then cut east towards Dothan, Valdosta, and Waycross IIRC, towards I believe Jacksonville. That line was called the Floridian, and it was cut long ago(forget the year, think it was in the late 70s). In addition there was a 2nd Auto Train route from around Louisville, that went all the way south to Florida(I think Sanford, FL, a la the existing Virginia to Florida Amtrak Auto Train). I want to more closely check a historic Amtrak timetable website later, and figure out the route and stops(including smaller towns) it used to serve.

Later I'm going to check this site out on historic Amtrak timetables( The Museum of Railway Timetables (timetables.org) ), and see what I find out about the Floridian. Wish Amtrak had more corridors and long distance routes it served throughout the country, and too bad the national system is so limited. I guess it could be worse though(i.e. Mexico), where all national long distance trains in that country were eliminated years ago. And as I recall, only a few tourist trains still operate there.

[MattCW]

Yes, there's passenger issues, but the main issue is the track. Right now, the station sits on a very busy mainline, and people and baggage have to cross the active mainline to get to the train so Norfolk Southern basically has to shutdown when the Crescent is in the station. There's also no real servicing facilities for terminating/originating service. They do it in a pinch if there's a service disruption and the Crescent has to terminate at Atlanta, like if there's a gulf hurricane, but it's hardly ideal, and that still ties up NS for a while as again, the train occupies the main line until it's on the storage track which can't be used for day to day operations.

[arjay57]

The station used to handle 21 trains a day.

Did it have more tracks back in the old days?

Currently I think they only get 200 passengers a day or so.

Peachtree Southern Railway, now known as Brookwood Station, is the last passenger terminal in Atlanta, a city which owes its existence to railroads. Representing a fine example of a suburban railroad terminal, it is the work of the eminent Atlanta architectural firm of Hentz, Reid, and Adler. Opening in 1918, the station originally serviced 14 arriving trains and seven departing trains on a daily basis. Today, however, only a few passenger trains run primarily to New Orleans, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C.

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/atlanta/pea.htm

[MattCW]

No, those 21 trains a day did little more than pause at the suburban station on their way to or from the main stations, which had many tracks, downtown. Those trains were also operated by the railroad instead of a separate entity with conflicting goals. It also is not setup to handle terminating traffic, at all really. It can do so in a pinch as stated above, but it's a highly inefficient move for one, and lacking in facilities (maintenance, cleaning) for two.

[2nd trick op]

My long-standing personal interest in railroading notwithstanding, no single market better demonstrates the futility of attempting to revive "traditional" long-distance rail passenger service than Atlanta.

Amtrak was originally intended as a stop-gap "middle-class welfare" measure aimed at the substantial portion of elderly Americans who, in the late Sixties, still didn't hold a driver's license and refused to fly. By 1975, it had halted the long-term decline in patronage enough to interest a coalition of national politicians to perpetuate it -- a trend further enhanced by the secure position of its Northeast Corridor. But the "new" Amtrak system was designed with political and bureaucratic largesse, rather than efficiency, as the standard.

The picture was further complicated by the fact that the financially-sound and Atlanta-centered Southern Railway system (later a major component of Norfolk Southern) opted out of Amtrak in the belief that its four remaining schedules would eventually fall by the wayside as patronage continued to decline. The Southern continued to operate those schedules for the mandated five years, then three of the four trains were discontinued, and the survivor, the Washington-New Orleans Southern Crescent, folded into Amtrak.

The only other Amtrak service involving the Atlanta market was the Chicago-Miami Floridian, but between the two end cities, this service couldn't gather enough business without choosing between several intermediate routes; should it go via Louisville, Nashville, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Birmingham, or Montgomery? Should feeder services be added to Detroit, Cincinnati, or St. Louis? And would any of the states involved subsidize local feeders? (No!) The service eventually was terminated as part of an austerity measure c.1979-80.

Finally, it needs to be recognized that Metro Atlanta, with a young demographic, one of the largest air hubs in the world, and the absence of a corridor such as Boston-New York-Washington or Los Angeles-San Francisco (which stands a better-than-anticipated chance of success due to the higher speeds possible due to its brand-new, built-from-scratch right-of-way) can't be easily integrated into a national network. Anything designed for Atlanta will have to be designed around Atlanta and Atlanta alone; and that is a role better suited for MARTA.