Study: High-speed trains across South are feasible

As of Friday, June 22, 2012
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

ATLANTA (AP) — High-speed passenger trains connecting Atlanta with Jacksonville, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; and Birmingham, Ala.; would be economically feasible, according to a consultant's study for Georgia transportation officials.

Consultant HNTB presented the study's findings to Georgia's State Transportation Board on Wednesday.

The study identified possible train stations in Griffin, Macon, Savannah and Brunswick on the route from Atlanta to Jacksonville. A map of the route also includes a potential station at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport south of downtown.

Atlanta and Jacksonville are both planning downtown stations where passengers could switch from the high-speed trains to local transit.

Potential stations along the Atlanta to Louisville route include Cartersville and Dalton in Georgia; Chattanooga, Murfreesboro and Nashville in Tennessee; and Bowling Green and Elizabethtown in Kentucky.

In Alabama, the study identified a potential station in Anniston on the route from Atlanta to Birmingham.

The feasibility study was the first of many steps in setting the final course of the train routes and securing funding, officials said.

The routes discussed Wednesday were studied after an earlier study showed the feasibility of a route from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C. That project is now in the stage of estimating the environmental impact of possible paths.

More like this story

DOT officials impressed with mag-lev train tour ( September 21, 2006 )
Committees hear rail proposals ( February 29, 2008 )
Legislator proposes study of Atlanta-to-Savannah rail ( February 9, 2013 )
Mayor: Train link to Savannah would fuel economy ( November 28, 2012 )
Columbus mayor forms panel to push for train service ( December 6, 2011 )

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