Amtrak proposed new Nashville-Atlanta line

[An Einnseanair]

The catch-22 of passenger rail is the local-vs-express debate. To get there fast, it would have to be an express route, with maybe a stop in Chattanooga. To get the most taxpayer benefit, it would have to be a local route with stops in multiple other small cities along the way. Realistically it will have 1 express train/day and a few locals.

Even if were an express with a stop in Chattanooga, it would still likely take longer than a drive or a bus with good traffic. Especially considering the max speed will be based on average freight train speeds along the single-track sections, plus waits on sidings for other rail traffic to clear.

But anyone looking to take the train isn't doing it for speed. It's for convenience. They want to avoid having to drive over Monteagle, through the common traffic backups around Chattanooga (Moccasin Bend and the Ridge Cut), and through typically horrid Atlanta traffic. A bus at least means you won't have to deal with driving, but you're still just sitting there on the interstate in a jam. People who take trains want to sit back and relax, and will have some form of other transportation available once they get to their destination.

[lluvia]

Sit back and relax and also, get up and stretch the legs and walk from car to car.

[Ginsaw]

Most are not old enough to remember passenger train travel like it once existed. I am. Unfortunately for me.

In the 1950s we had many rail links with other cities out of Memphis. In every direction you could name. One railroad at one station alone had 16 trains a day.

Going east, we had the Southern Ry which ran east with possible station stops at Germantown, Collierville, Rossville, Moscow, Grand Junction, and on to Corinth where we used to get off. It ran on east from there, eventually to Knoxville and Washington DC. But towards the end, in the last of the '50s, we were usually the ONLY passengers on it. And it NEVER stopped at any of those towns I just mentioned. Everyone drove by then or took airplanes. And it'd be no different now, unless the gov't is planning somewhere on eventually cutting down on us being able to drive in the manner we're currently used to.

We also had railroads, two actually, which ran from Memphis to Nashville and I believe with connections on to Atlanta. Those are now part of the CSX. One was the L&N. Point being, there was a time when there were rail inter-connections between most any city you could think of.

Because back then we needed them. But that's ancient history, from a far earlier time. Automobiles, interstates and airlines put all that out of business. No passengers equals financial losses for railroads. And even though Amtrak is government run, it'd still have to use the tracks owned by privately owned rail lines. In this case, either CSX or NS. Who would have to make room to squeeze this all in between their freight traffic and who wouldn't be doing that free of charge. For them it's strictly a nuisance. And it'd not be fast travel. You'd be doing good to average 40 mph in my opinion, sharing tracks with freight trains.

So you see the problem? And now to try and revive it?

Almost nobody would ride it. It would be all wasted money and effort. But knowing how politics works, I suppose the whole point might be to just get the money spent and spread around. With a piece of it winding up in the pockets of those who are connected and know the right people. UNLESS of course some deeper meaning is involved, and gov't intends to FORCE us to ride it.

In my opinion, with the advent of government forcing electric cars on us with limited range and taking away oil and gas, it appears that "they" do intend in a general way to get rid of the "gasoline economy" and the unlimited mobility it provides. And replace it with something extremely inflexible and inconvenient. And not cheap. If that's the case, then if it's all that important for you to travel from Nashville to Atlanta, you may need some substitute means.

..personally, based on a lifetime of looking at it, I think things are just fine like they are...