Quote:
Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist
Nashville lawmakers reintroduce bill to study Amtrak expansion in Tennessee
By Adam Friedman
Nashville Tennessean
Feb. 22, 2022
"Nashville's state lawmakers want Tennessee to study the cost and feasibility of an Amtrak rail line connecting Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis.
The bill would direct the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to conduct a study determining what it would take for a commuter rail connecting most of the state.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Jason Powell, D-Nashville, and Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, mirrors similar legislation that passed the Senate in 2020 but never made it for a vote in the House because the session was cut short by COVID-19..."
https://www.tennessean.com/story/new...ne/6892683001/
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Please note that this bill will merely direct an existing state agency to study Amtrak routes. It does not provide any dedicated funding for the agency to do so.
It also makes no mention of the long-proposed HSR line between Chattanooga and Atlanta:
https://railroads.dot.gov/environmen...transportation
This line has been talked about for 25+ years, back to the Atlanta Olympics. Obviously, a conventional Nashville>Atlanta Amtrak train would overlap this corridor. I have always wondered what is behind the old and somehow ongoing HSR proposal because Chattanooga is a small city and HSR makes no sense unless it's a stepping stone to HSR between Nashville and Atlanta, a distance of about 250 miles.
Memphis>Nashville makes a ton of sense since there is almost no physical characteristic to overcome. My parents have lived very close to the existing freight line for 20 years and it does not have much traffic, meaning frequent passenger rail can be added without extensive upgrades.
Nashville>Knoxville is another matter entirely, as the Cumberland Plateau is a significant topographic issue that will limit train speeds. The line also intersects the hugely trafficked CSX line that connects Cincinnati and Chattanooga, so there might be a need for significant upgrades at that junction.
It would be great to see the service extended 20 miles east of Knoxville to Sevierville, which is at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This would require a new 10~ mile branch from the existing freight mainline.