Atlanta rail system to Augusta, Savannah, Macon, or Columbus (Nashville: to live in, airport)

[AlGreen]

atlanta to athens to augusta to savannah

[Columbus1984]

Columbus because of the large corporate base, Fort Benning, and overall growth of the region.

[biomargaret]

any current news on the status of this rail line

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by biomargaret

any current news on the status of this rail line

Nothing really. Ultimately, no one wants to put money down on anything.

The two major things to look at right now is:

1) The GDOT put in a request forf $400million in federal funds to re-work Norfolk-Southern's secondary track running from Atlanta to Macon to upgrade it so a 79 mph mainline. This would increase capacity for freight and allow use for passenger rail, which the state would commit to if they received and used the funds. The application is posted on the GDOT website if you want to see it. This isn't likely to go anywhere seeing Georgia did not put down any state matching costs on the application.

2) The Atlanta multi-modal hub project is being looked at as a public-private initiative and 3 developers are making proposals for the project. I'm sure more will come out about this in the news in a couple months.

Moving forward the next big thing to look for is plans or funding to rework Atlanta's Howell Mill Junction northwest of downtown. Basically 3 legs of Norfolk Southern system and 3 legs of CSX system come together in the same places. It is a huge freight bottleneck and needs to be reworked regardless of passenger rail, but it is needed for passenger moving to the north, west, and northeast of Atlanta. This is one is several reasons why they looked at building a Macon/lovejoy commuter rail route over a northeast/gwinnett route first. There are fewer issues to overcome going south.

If you want to know more there are some newer updated threads on the issue, but the debates you will find is kind of disorienting and at times confusing if not misleading.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by netdragon

I'm going to say Macon because that's affordable and a good central location in the state for other jumping-off points. Personally, I think we should have direct high speed rail to Savannah (200mph+) to make beach-going and vacation trips faster for Atlantans. I imagine it'll be some time before we can afford something like that.

Take a plane to Savannah. They go 500+ mph and they are flying now.

[jpatlanta]

I would have thought with the potential extra cargo business in Savannah now would be the time to really ramp up the rail lines. Also a high speed rail to Savannah would be awesome and bring in a ton of long term growth. Imagine being able to finish work on Friday afternoon grab the train, sit back and have a drink and be in downtown Savannah by 7pm.

As someone who flies a lot I have to tell you I would jump at an alternative......... I wonder sometimes if Delta and co aren't doing a lot of lobbying against high speed rail.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by jpatlanta

I would have thought with the potential extra cargo business in Savannah now would be the time to really ramp up the rail lines. Also a high speed rail to Savannah would be awesome and bring in a ton of long term growth. Imagine being able to finish work on Friday afternoon grab the train, sit back and have a drink and be in downtown Savannah by 7pm.

As someone who flies a lot I have to tell you I would jump at an alternative......... I wonder sometimes if Delta and co aren't doing a lot of lobbying against high speed rail.

I've done something like that. I lived in the south of France. I sometimes took a morning TGV and in 3 hours I was in Paris. Spent the day there, left at 8 pm, and by 11 pm I was home. If I had lived in Lyon, I could have made the trip in 2 hours.

But how much passenger traffic is there between these cities to justify electrifying hundreds of miles of track? MARTA rail is very expensive, just imagine building rail capable of 200+ mph speeds for hundreds of miles.

[jpatlanta]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

I've done something like that. I lived in the south of France. I sometimes took a morning TGV and in 3 hours I was in Paris. Spent the day there, left at 8 pm, and by 11 pm I was home. If I had lived in Lyon, I could have made the trip in 2 hours.

But how much passenger traffic is there between these cities to justify electrifying hundreds of miles of track? MARTA rail is very expensive, just imagine building rail capable of 200+ mph speeds for hundreds of miles.

Yes the TGV is awesome no question and still getting extended past AIX etc. I guess my opinion is a high speed rail line undertaking is a longterm strategy which is why very few policitians support it with their and the electorates "what have you done for me lately" attitute. No question though 20 years from now we will wish we had done it. Its one of those things we just have to do or longterm the area will fall behind.

[cwkimbro]

Just a quick side note... what I mentioned was for GA passenger rail... and not HSR. It is about using existing tracks, but upgrading capacity for passenger and freight moving at a max speed of 79 mph. Macon, Columbus, and Augusta would be the main beneficiaries, since they would have better access to Hartsfield and could attract secondary business functions (or contract work) with the existing business base in Atlanta better. (ie. a company could cut costs by locating a customer service call center in or near Macon, but still maintain relatively easy access between the center and headquarters.)

HSR, typically is new track that is flatter and straighter with fewer crossings that allow trains to go much faster.

Also, be careful comparing MARTA and it's cost....The technology, costs, and the way it is applied is different. HSR is also not always electrified. There are tilting trains with diesel generators.

HSR is expensive, because of how long it must go, while engineering the tracks to be flatter and straighter But, heavy rail transit is much more expensive (per mile) than HSR. Heavy rail is designed to move large amounts of people, quickly, with many stops on a completely 100% separated electrified system. Compared to HSR it is much much slower, but can handle trains every 2 minutes and carry more people.

Also, a plane trip to Savannah does not move 500 mph. Once you show you travel to the airport, check in early as required, go through security, board the plane 30 minutes early, spend 15-20 minutes taxing, taxing in Savannah and then traveling from the airport into town it is actually much much slower than 500 mph. 500 mph is only the max cruising speed of the air craft once it is as cruising altitude. It does not reflect the speed getting to cruising altitude or the 15-30 minute approach of a landing.

That is typically why a true HSR system beats out airplane competition somewhere within a 400 to 600 mile range (depending on details of a persons trip).

[sirrob]

I've always had a thing for Macon, because of it's location, and slightly milder weather than ATL. It's a crying shame it doesn't get more love from the state. An Atlanta/Macon/Savannah HSR route would be awesome. But Macon needs JOBS!!!

I would seriously love to live in Macon, work in Atlanta, and play in Savannah! That would be perfect! Plus the nice beaches are a shorter drive from Macon than Atlanta.

Sigh...