Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson Pitching High-Speed Rail Together in D.C.

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by lem1985

As an Atlanta native and current Mobile resident(2 yrs but moving back home) Mobile will find a way to say no to the rail line even though it would be beneficial. They will fight about it especially if the DOT wants to get a few million from the feds to help out. The last 2 months they have been fighting about the supposed I-10 bridge to relieve traffic on the causeway which I found out that they have been fighting about it for almost 25 years. Mobile will say no just to say no

If rail takes off like they are proposing, I imagine Mobile will be singing a different tune. Mobile is too important economically to not have it, especially if there are plans to extend it to New Orleans and beyond.

[befr33]

Sounds like a fantastic idea. I don't live in Columbus any longer but I had many early and late nights driving between Atlanta and Columbus to catch a plane, where I would have much rather taken a train so I could have rested instead of driving in the fairly aggressive traffic both in the Atlanta area and the closer I got to Benning. I always hated the Monday morning stress, it was like a freakin' race to get into the Main Gate with single driver lifted trucks, Camaros and Challengers driving 80-90mph. And this was before Fort Knox moved in.

It would be a whole lot safer if all of us who came from the airport could hop on a train, get an hour extra sleep and access our vehicles in long time parking adjacent to a Columbus train station (which could be extra revenue to the city), instead of having to deal with expensive airport parking and the considerable hike it takes to get to it. And/or Ft Benning could provide a a bus from the train station and we could have parked for free on post and not even having to deal with driving at all.

Just great for family trips as well. When I had people over from out of town (overseas) they of course wanted to go to Atlanta, and it would be far easier to put them on a train instead of having to rent a car or drive them and mess with parking. We ended up driving and undoubtedly got "booted" due to poor signage, which cost me more than what train tickets would have cost for 4 people. This was outside of the mall where the Apple store is . It looked deliberately confusing to me, like a little side revenue stream for the property owners capitalizing on out-of-towners that don't realize that the identical looking parking areas next to each other are ear marked for different businesses. In the end, we had a nice dinner with several bottles of wine and decided to stay for the night instead of driving. It would have been nice to catch the train home after a night out.

Columbus is a great little town but with limited employment opportunities. With a train connection it would open up for Atlanta telecommuters where the salaries in my field, IT, are 30-50% higher. I found compensation levels @ Ft Benning artificially low since they cap on contractors that are also enlisted and already have a sleuth of benefits provided by the Army. For a non-Army professional civilian contractor that need full benefits for a family, the compensation levels are at least 20% under market, which is my I moved. I couldn't afford to stay.

A train communication would open up for Atlanta employment opportunities, and many IT and office workers only need to get to their workplace a couple of days a week these days, and with WiFi on the train it could cut down on the work hours even further. It would save commuters gas, time and bring in more money to the city since more people with higher salaries can now live in Columbus. Looks to me like this could be a very smart and forward thinking move for Columbus.

[lem1985]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

If rail takes off like they are proposing, I imagine Mobile will be singing a different tune. Mobile is too important economically to not have it, especially if there are plans to extend it to New Orleans and beyond.

New Orleans had tried to get Mobile to talk to Amtrak and the Feds to help open up the station but Mobile said no. My dad which is from Mobile has said Mobile has missed opportunities left and right especially with the airport location and downtown Mobile area. I have asked a few people in Mobile older and in my generation what they think Mobile would do and nobody believes Mobile will sing a different tune. Now over in Baldwin County across the bay from Mobile everybody know they will be all for it way before Mobile. I would hope Mobile would come along with everybody else on it but they cant figure out how they want to build a bridge they been fighting about for about 25 yrs. Some people think Mobile may lose the minor league team they just don't see Mobile attractive only as a pass through city

[luv2belds97]

Saw this link on her fb page:


http://www.gpb.org/news/2014/09/04/c...l-link-atlanta