Do you all think the Beltline light rail line will happen? (Atlanta: crimes, how much)

[alco89]

Originally Posted by JMatl

Wrong, the first phase is about to get under construction.

We can repeat this until we're blue in the face, but people will still act like it's an abstract concept.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by JMatl

Wrong, the first phase is about to get under construction.

Is it? There's always a possibly of it getting canceled like the Clayton CRT line that seemed like a sure thing. But anyhow that might be the first, last, and only phase sadly knowing how it is around here.

[Datdudebrah]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

Is it? There's always a possibly of it getting canceled like the Clayton CRT line that seemed like a sure thing. But anyhow that might be the first, last, and only phase sadly knowing how it is around here.

Clayton commuter rail didn't make it past the planning phase. The streetcar project is in final design / nearly 100% engineering plans.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Datdudebrah

Clayton commuter rail didn't make it past the planning phase. The streetcar project is in final design / nearly 100% engineering plans.

Yep, the EIS is even completed - that's farther than any rail project has come in many years. I think additional rail on the BeltLine will be demanded by the public once Phase I is completed to PCM. It will be a game changer, and incredibly popular. MARTA & the City need to make the existing Streetcar line a Dedicated Right of Way, and convert the streets to a One-Way pair. That would speed up the Streetcar and make the schedules actually mean something.

[architect77]

Originally Posted by jetgraphics

Barring a technological breakthrough, steel wheel on steel rail is the most efficient form of land transport. Due to the co:efficient of rolling resistance, rail ways can carry 20 times as much cargo as a pneumatic tire on pavement vehicle, for the same amount of fuel / energy.
- - -
Why rail ceased to be dominant is a tribute to government collusion with certain competitors, who shall remain ignored.
- - -
And that means government funded rail projects are going to be deliberately crippled, so the nay-sayers can point their fingers and shout: "I told you so!"
- - -
If all government meddling (taxes on rail, and subsidies on the competition) was removed, Atlanta would shift 85%-90% of all traffic to rail, in all its forms : heavy, light, urban, commuter, interurban, subway, elevated, monorail, funicular, cogwheel, etc, etc.
Who wouldn't want to save 95% on fuel costs?
And end the daily commuter traffic jam.

: : : : : :
For those skeptics who say you can't profitably run trains and provide excellent service - - -

SWISS

... Not only do Swiss trains provide the best reliability and punctuality in Europe but also they are considered to be extremely safe with good quality service. The Swiss are the most frequent train travelers in Europe with over 10,000 trains running daily on the 3000 km rail network. The Swiss rail network has the highest capacity utilization in Europe.

https://www.saveatrain.com/blog/swiss-trains-ranked-best-europe/

SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) reported a record year in 2018, with operating revenue up by 2.2% to SFr 9.6bn ($US 9.6bn) and consolidated profit increasing by 42.5% to a record SFr 568.4m.

https://www.railjournal.com/financia...record-profit/
. . . . .
FWIW - Atlanta has great potential to host a renaissance of rail transport.

I would love to see rail lines constructed in Atlanta also.

MARTA is a great asset to the region. Heavy rail is incredibly expensive to build new, and Atlanta is lucky to have this wonderful backbone of transit.

It's smooth, and travels fast enough to beat driving. It travels at 75mph between Arts Center station and Lindbergh because I've stood right behind the operator looking at the speedometer.

I would love to see heavy rail extended to the Clifton corridor. Switching to any other slower type is a no go to me due to the time lost in transitioning to the other platform.

MARTA is set to begin receiving all new trainsets this year. That could bring a lot of excitement and interest back to the system. I contend that a full, deep, cleaning and refurbishment to all of the existing stations and platforms should be done now to coincide with delivery of the new rail cars. A big, splashy, new look to the entire system. It is decently run already, more dependable service than in many other US cities like D.C. or San Francisco.

It is expensive too though, its funding mostly covered by fares AND a 1.5% sales tax on everything Fulton and Dekalb residents buy. In one year, each person (1.8 million residents) pays several hundred dollars just to cover MARTA's daily operations.

Your dream to construct rail to adequately serve the Atlanta region would take trillions of dollars and 75-100 years to build. A new single line costs several billion dollars just for 1-2 miles, and probably 5-10 years to construct.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by architect77

I would love to see rail lines constructed in Atlanta also.

MARTA is a great asset to the region. Heavy rail is incredibly expensive to build new, and Atlanta is lucky to have this wonderful backbone of transit.

It's smooth, and travels fast enough to beat driving. It travels at 75mph between Arts Center station and Lindbergh because I've stood right behind the operator looking at the speedometer.

I would love to see heavy rail extended to the Clifton corridor. Switching to any other slower type is a no go to me due to the time lost in transitioning to the other platform.

MARTA is set to begin receiving all new trainsets this year. That could bring a lot of excitement and interest back to the system. I contend that a full, deep, cleaning and refurbishment to all of the existing stations and platforms should be done now to coincide with delivery of the new rail cars. A big, splashy, new look to the entire system. It is decently run already, more dependable service than in many other US cities like D.C. or San Francisco.

It is expensive too though, its funding mostly covered by fares AND a 1.5% sales tax on everything Fulton and Dekalb residents buy. In one year, each person (1.8 million residents) pays several hundred dollars just to cover MARTA's daily operations.

Your dream to construct rail to adequately serve the Atlanta region would take trillions of dollars and 75-100 years to build. A new single line costs several billion dollars just for 1-2 miles, and probably 5-10 years to construct.

I would have loved to seen it done 20 years ago when we had the chance, when it was less expensive, including expanding the North Line past North Springs to Alpharetta, and a Northwest line to Cumberland and Town Center. Back then shopping malls were the ideal locations for transit centers, like they did with Dunwoody/Perimeter Mall. At least the new trainsets is something to look forward to. I might actually ride one which would be the first time riding MARTA since the pandemic.

[cranberrysaus]

Originally Posted by architect77

MARTA is set to begin receiving all new trainsets this year.

Just FYI I believe that's been pushed back to 2025. The metal shells for the first cars only just arrived about 8 months ago.

[Datdudebrah]

Originally Posted by cranberrysaus

Just FYI I believe that's been pushed back to 2025. The metal shells for the first cars only just arrived about 8 months ago.

Schedule they were showing a few days ago:

[cranberrysaus]

Originally Posted by Datdudebrah

Schedule they were showing a few days ago:

Maybe entry into revenue service was what I was thinking of. Good to hear that we'll physically have the first one here in less than a year.

[arjay57]

Looks like some of the neighborhoods on the Beltline are not in favor of adding rail.