Late last year InsiderAdvantage wrote about the state’s plan to construct a high speed rail line connecting Atlanta and Chattanooga, and the steps that officials were taking to move it forward. The first among those was the publication of a Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Tier 1 DEIS), released by the GDOT in conjunction with its Tennessee counterpart.
The Tier 1 DEIS offered up three possibilities for rail paths, each going up I-75 but swinging out in different directions to connect with cities like Dalton or Rome. The GDOT and TDOT held a series of public meetings to review the plans as they mulled over their options before choosing a preferred route, which would then go before the Federal Railroad Administration for approval.
Well eleven months later, (nobody ever accused the government of working quickly) the FRA has come to a decision, approving the plan to build a rail line straight up I-75, connecting the two cities. The 120 mile line would have Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as one anchor and a downtown Chattanooga station as the other, with a handful of stops in between including the Cobb Galleria, Dalton, and the Chattanooga Airport.
Said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao in a statement, “This project will benefit both Atlanta and Chattanooga with more efficient transportation, while also providing rail access to the rural communities in the region. This has been a long time in the making and represents a response to numerous transportation needs along the I-75 corridor.”
The project though is far from complete, heck it’s far from even truly beginning. Now the states must look to the feds for more funding before taking on a Tier II DEIS study, which hopefully with approval would set a timeline for the states getting funding for actual construction and maybe even set a date for breaking ground. If the nearly year long Tier I study is any indication though, this process is only just beginning.
The proposed Atlanta – Chattanooga high speed rail line route (from railwayage.com)
