high speed rail connecting to atlanta (Columbus, Savannah: rent, bus, train station)

[bryantm3]

i know that there is another topic on the forum about this, but it is 5 years old and i think it was misguided.

i'm sure many of you know about America 2050, it's an organization looking for the most efficient ways to develop cities and connect cities with things like high speed rail.

America 2050

There have been a million suggestions about high-speed rail and many of them are just blind suggestions. augusta? columbus? how about savannah? and none of them are the best idea.

america 2050 has identified 12 "megaregions" where the population is growing fastest now and will grow between now and 2050. these megaregions which comprise less than a third of the US' total land area, have 3/4 of the population in the united states. we're in one of the megaregions, the 'piedmont' megaregion which goes from birmingham to richmond, and connects to the northeast megaregion from Washington to Boston.


eventually i believe that the area from birmingham to richmond will be a lot like Bos-Wash, a fairly continuous megalopolis extending down the east coast. since this is where the population is centred, and the population is expected to grow, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to build the first high-speed rail line between atlanta and charlotte, nc, with stops in gainesville, commerce, anderson SC, greenville SC, spartanburg SC, and gastonia NC? to me this would make the most sense, more than any other high-speed rail proposal out there. what do y'all think?

[ATLTJL]

I guess maybe we can hope on being able to take high speed rail to visit our great, great grandchildren.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I guess maybe we can hope on being able to take high speed rail to visit our great, great grandchildren.

Gotta start somewhere. The interstate highway network took decades.

[tikigod311]

I'm really not big on inter/intra(whatever)city rail in Georgia, but if they are going to go ahead with it, I like the idea of connecting regions and not necessarily worrying about connecting the US as a whole. Once regional networks are setup, it would then make sense to have cross country high speed lines.

But I don't think intercity rail will be a success until there is good transit at every major node. Not necessarily train transport in every city, but at least some frequent visitor / business centric bus lines at each major stop. IE Macon, Chattanooga, Savannah, Columbus, Augusta, etc. I feel that city transit is step 1, inter/intra city regional rail is step 2, then cross country as step 3.

Just can't over the idea of going to Chattanooga by rail at this point. Get in my car to get to the train station, get on a train, get out in 'nooga, rent a car... As much as I would love rail, it just doesn't make sense.

[cqholt]

Just can't over the idea of going to Chattanooga by rail at this point. Get in my car to get to the train station, get on a train, get out in 'nooga, rent a car... As much as I would love rail, it just doesn't make sense.

Last time I was in Chattanooga, they had a free, electric, downtown bus. Most of the tourist stuff is in downtown Chattanooga anyways, except for the stuff on Lookout Mountain.

[testa50]

I'm also not big on the idea of intercity rail in America--I think our transportation woes are primarily WITHIN cities and that is where investments should be focused--but I agree with OP. Atlanta - Charlotte is a no-brainer for the first route. It's the biggest city that's somewhat close to us and there is a decent concentration of people in between.

[cqholt]

I think our transportation woes are primarily WITHIN cities and that is where investments should be focused

Commuter Rail!

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

i know that there is another topic on the forum about this,

There is actually more than one. We cannot have a quarter of the topics on here about MARTA and/or high speed rail, so it's time to consolidate, folks.

Please use the search feature and find all high speed related threads. Pick the one you feel best suits this and add your posting and any additional comments to that thread, even if it's not brand new. The short of it - if I don't weed these out, someone else will come in behind me and start deleting, so please self-monitor regarding these topics and consolidate as much as possible to avoid this.

Thank you.