Using $500,000 of federal funds, city will analyze market, pricing, trip duration
A plan that could reconnect Chattanooga with some of the South’s largest cities through passenger rail has gained local support and nearly $500,000 in federal funding.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The City of Chattanooga is continuing their efforts to make the Scenic City a stop on a passenger rail corridor.
City leaders and advocates believe Chattanooga is a good spot for this corridor.
The city will conduct a study to see how they can turn their plans into a reality.
Chattanooga city council passed a resolution that would allow the city to apply for a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for that study.
The proposed passenger rail would connect Atlanta with Nashville.
Chattanooga would be a stop on that line, and also connect with lines that run north towards Knoxville and Bristol.
Ellis Smith, Director of Intergovernmental and External Affairs for the City of Chattanooga, says…
“The future’s looking really bright for passenger rail here in Chattanooga.”
The city of Chattanooga says they are looking at how to best develop an Amtrak passenger rail service through and around the city.
Smith says they continue to look at cost and engineering solutions.
“Mayor Kelly believes that having that as an option is crucial to help unclog our roadways, and to give people another choice and drive prosperity in our state and our region. So we think it’s going to be huge,” Smith says. “Tennessee, for example, is expected to see an almost 30% increase in auto trips by 2045. And that’s going to do what to our commute times? It’s going to make those increase.”
Smith says an end goal is the direct connection of Chattanooga with other parts of the country.
“Because once you connect to Atlanta, you’re connected to the entire eastern seaboard. Once you connect to Memphis, you’re connected to all points west. So you can go to Denver if you want. You can go farther west if you like.”
Back in March, we spoke to Hugh Sawyer, a locomotive engineer.
He says using existing freight lines for passenger travel could cause a problem.
“The problems that they’ll run into using existing lands, is that it’s set up for freight service. Passenger rail, particularly scheduled passenger rail, gets in the way of freight service. Sometimes they have to set out freight at certain terminals and block a mainline. And it’s hard to integrate scheduled passenger service into that mix,” Sawyer says.
A report put out last year on passenger rail options in Tennessee shows this map
The green line shows the freight line, which would be used by passenger trains.
Bill Steverson, a train enthusiast, disagrees with Sawyer’s points.
He says that will open up more travel options.
“There’s great opportunity for everybody. We’re not trying to take things away from the freight railroads. We. Trying to work with them to serve this community. And CSX has been great, and I think Norfolk Southern will come around, and when, when they see the opportunities.”
Now, the city has their eye set on who is going to conduct the study.
“Because of state procurement rules, because the RFQ is still open, I can’t get into the specifics, because those applicants have not even been notified of what the situation is. So we have to follow state procurement rules,” Smith tells us.
The city says another part of the study will include locations for where the train stations are going to go.
