Thursday, September 13, 2007
News High-speed-rail talks to begin next week
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 5:40 PM
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that talks between Georgia and Tennessee transportation officials to determine the benefit of a 110-mile high-speed rail line between Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Chattanooga will begin next Thursday in Chattanooga, with meetings in Powder Springs Sept. 18, and Rome, Ga., Sept. 19 (details below). It is the first step in what is to be a three-year, $10.1 million engineering and environmental study. The total project, Georgia Department of Transportation estimates, could cost $4 billion if magnetic levitation technology is implemented. Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, is quoted in the article as saying he hopes public-private partnerships can help pay the bill.
The idea of a high-speed rail line between the two locales has been a hot topic as of late, praised by Sagacious Cindy at that other Atlanta paper. And with Delta's new CEO Richard Anderson poo-pooing the idea of a second airport in Georgia, people are scratching their heads as to just how people can efficiently shuttle about.
At a time when transportation funds are hard to come by, the primary concern among officials in this early stage of the sure-to-be-expensive endeavor: Will people use the train? Say you want to compare two aquariums in one day, or maximize flight plans and book connecting flights at airports. Maybe visit your wonderful grandmother who is an adjunct professor at UT-Chattanooga, hasn't seen you in so long, wants to cook you that pot roast you always love. Come visit already!
Would you use it?
Meeting information:
Atlanta (Powder Springs): Tues., Sept. 18, 2007, 5-7:30 p.m. McEachern High School, 2400 New Macland Road.
Rome: Wed., Sept. 19, 2007, 5-7:30 p.m. Rome Civic Center, 400 Civic Center Drive.
Comments (7)
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This is exactly what we need, alternatives!! I only wish the Brain Train would get fast-tracked.
You're welcome, Victor. We'll stay on top of it and let us know as well if you hear anything.
I'm sure I'd be inclined to visit Chattanooga more often if the rail line was built. But for the day-to-day stuff of living in Atlanta, it would be a bad idea to place the proposal at odds with initiatives to strengthen transit within the city. It's too bad so much transportation money is wrapped up in expensive highways!
dumbest..idea..ever. given a $4 billion check, there are about a thousand transportation projects in the state that i can think of that should be addressed before this one.
Beaz: Here's about $15 billion worth of projects that should probably be addressed first. The per-mile cost of building either the maglev or the Northwest Corridor project (coincidentally, also now priced at $4 billion) will be much higher.
Joeventures: This may peg me as a hardcore transportation geek monster, but that future transit plan you guys have on that site is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I even have it as my desktop background. If I only knew it would come to this...
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