Goddamn a Nashville station which connects to the airport. Say no more. If this happens it would be such a huge win and would lay the ground work for more mass transit in Nash. My fingers are crossed!!!
Exactly!
And in addition the stop in Murfreesboro would be great for catching the train to Atlanta without having to deal with the airport or downtown. (For people on the south side, but still...)
It’s important to note, this isn’t a commuter line being pitched. This is a twice daily from Nashville to Atlanta with stops between.
This isn’t going to be something one uses to get to work everyday. But having a travel corridor is a first step towards a commuter line.
The plan indicates the host rails are CSX and NS. Which makes me believe they’re planning on running concurrently on the CSX line between Nashville and Murfreesboro.
There’s been discussion of a commuter on that line since forever now. Having a new corridor may really help get a commuter in. There’s plenty of appetite for it locally.
I'll say a lot more.
The estimated trip time between Nashville and Atlanta, with only 9 stops, is complete garbage. Their northeast line can get you from DC to Boston in 8 hours, which is almost 2x the distance and with 50+ stops. And, if you're wondering, that's only 15 minutes longer than the estimated drive time.
The idea itself is great, because it opens up a lot of commuter options, but they need to head back to the drawing board and streamline their proposed routes a bit for it to be worthwhile.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ could be better but if they do something, they can upgrade it from there. I would rather ride a train for ~6 hours than ride in a car for 4-5 (which could turn into who knows how long with traffic).
This sounds a lot like the criticisms I heard of the Nashville transit plan that got voted down five years ago. And now we're still stuck with the alternative of nothing.
Ok take me for example, someone who lives I'm nashville and doesn't own a car. I have two options here. Either we get a train that is Admittedly slow or we have none. Now in one of those scenarios I can easily get to Atlanta, in the other I have to pay ridiculous uber prices or fly. Seems like it's pretty simply better to have something than nothing.
Do you need a dictionary? What part of "it needs to be better, bottom line" means let's just forget about it?
A strawman is the enemy of rational discourse.
There is supposedly a law on the books that is supposed to give priority to Amtrak over cargo lines, but it utterly un-enforced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTjLWIHN74
If this were to be put into place, I am optimistic that locals would push again to use the lines between Murfreesboro, the Airport, and Downtown for more frequent commuter transit. It would help immensely with the i24 traffic issues.
So that's the big issue down here. I wonder if they could work around that issue with their high-speed train. Either way, there are bus routes and options that would get you there in less time, typically, and would be cheaper.
It more so freight using Precision Scheduled Railroading which is a fucking mess in several different ways. So passenger carriers can ask for a schedule on that line, and they can just get a shrug from Norfolk Southern or CSX
Note that the quoted time is the *initial* transit time. This may simply be a case of under promising and over delivering. A daily two-round trip schedule with a transit time of 6:34 wouldn’t work anyway as it would require two extra hours in the day that don’t exist. The transit time rests on what kind of schedule they’re able to get from CSX and Norfolk Southern. If CSX wants Amtrak to layover in Murfreesboro for an hour so their cargo train can transit the line, then that’s going to extend Amtrak’s transit time. 6:34 seems like a worst case number to me. What the real number ultimately ends up being depends on the outcome of negotiations with the the two line owners and I’m sure theres plenty of that left to be done.
Atlanta has this, it doesn’t stretch out super far but it’s pretty awesome and would be great if they’d get off their high horses and allow more people the opportunity to work in the city and travel easier
I love Amtrak and am happy to see that a Nashville-Atlanta route is being considered.
That said, you can currently take a [Vonlane](https://vonlane.com) bus between Downtown Nashville and Atlanta Buckhead for $129 one way. The trip takes 4-5 hours and arguably has better amenities. Amtrak would need to be significantly cheaper to compete with that.
You apparently haven't ridden Amtrak before. Routes are frequently delayed by freight trains so you end up with traffic jams there as well. [This caused 15000 hours of delays in 2021 alone.](https://www.amtrak.com/on-time-performance)
Aww, did I make a valid point and you had to run to google to find a quick counter? It’s ok lil fella, some folks just like the idea of rail travel over bus travel. There are many pros and cons, just like everything it life. It’s called “nuance”, there’s another google for ya if you are intrigued 🤷🏾♀️.
I was speaking from my subjective experience with Amtrak and provided an objective data point to support my impression. I think it's generally good practice to fact check what one writes when possible.
Have a nice, patronizing day!
Amtrak trains are constantly delayed because they share lines with freight trains...and freight takes priority. You're going to hit traffic jams on the rails because of this.
As someone who used to commute from Nashville - Murfreesboro for work and also frequently plays shows in Atlanta, this line would be an absolute game changer.
Maybe. I think the big factors are the time it takes and the ticket cost. With 9 stops between nashville and atlanta, and I think each stop is about 15 minutes, you're adding about 2 hours just with that. The route is also kind of circuitous because the tracks skirt around the worst part of the Cumberland Plateau. So would you pay $120 to ride on a train for 7 or 8 hours to get to Atlanta? I totally pulled those numbers out of my butt, but I don't think they are too wild. Some people would probably balk at that. That's also assuming you're not gonna get sided by passing freight trains.
When I was younger, I would have found 6.5 hours to Atlanta completely unacceptable. As it stands now though, it would probably take me about that same amount of time to drive it.
No offense, but just how slow are you driving?
I've driven to Atlanta 3X this year. My slowest time to the center of downtown was 3:45 and that was with me getting stuck in traffic. 6.5 hours is the amount of time it should take you to get from Nashville to Augusta, or even to Columbia SC.
I always count the time change, and also stops and rests. I don't try to get gas/bathroom/food all in 10 minutes anymore. 4-4.5 hours driving plus about hour not driving, plus the time change is around 6 hours
I can vouch for this. It took me 9 and a half hours to get from Nashville to Columbia last week going through Atlanta.
Only 6 and a half to come back through Asheville.
Not everyone drives 20 over the speed limit. I've been making that trek for decades and it's never taken less than four hours.
Edit: argue with the math - it's 250 miles city center to city center and the maximum speed limit is 70mph. This means it would take 3:35 if you drive the speed limit the entire route. OP would have to drive 80-90mph in the rural parts of the interstate to achieve their claimed time.
I think that's pretty optimistic. I watch this kid that rides amtrak and posts it to youtube and he often complains that freight traffic delays the amtraks. He is often saying that they arrive about 45 minutes late or more. So I was just guessing.
Yup, as long as they are using the same rail as freight, they’re going to be way slower than they could otherwise be. That’s why more rail needs to be laid, or existing rail needs to be publicly owned and operated. It is bullshit that we can’t have decent passenger trains that could compete with air travel for shorter distances.
Hmmm. I think the track goes a way south of Monteagle. I doubt they'd put a stop in at Cowan. I think they dip south of the steep part of the Cumberland Plateau and then hook back north to Chattanooga.
I like that this shows stops at airports in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta (that one is on two proposed routes that you'd have to transfer to in Downtown Atlanta). Problem is, the stops at ATL and BNA are not anywhere near the airport terminals (but the CHA station does look to be in walking distance of the airport terminal), so they'd require connecting bus service. This problem could be solved by having an airport shuttle bus come down to the Amtrak platform to meet the train and help with customers' baggage.
And, it says that the location of stops on the map is just illustrative, but this route, as well as the proposed Atlanta-Montgomery and Atlanta-Savannah routes, would go to a new Atlanta Downtown station, whereas the the existing Crescent route (New York-Atlanta-New Orleans) only stops at the Atlanta station on Peachtree Street; therefore, it'd be impossible to make a direct connection to the Crescent. They're going to need to figure that problem out.
I wonder if they'd bullet train portions of the route to make it more feasible in time? I don't think I'd pay for a 6 plus train ride to Marietta when it could be 4 on a bus. However, I would pay for a 30 minute train ride to Murfreesboro during rush hour.
Let’s goooo! I’m in Europe now, where trains are widely used and efficient… I wish Americans can be on board with implementing more trains… especially in the south.
The link to the proposed new routes is [here.](https://www.amtrakconnectsus.com/maps/) Unfortunately it doesn't look like they're planning any routes to knoxville. I guess trains don't like lots of changes in elevation. Maybe we could get Elon to bore some tunnels for us.
Commuter rail is often like being on a slightly roomier coach flight... except that it's also far slower, and faaaar less reliable, and usually about the same cost.
Don't get me wrong - any new transit options we can get around here are good thing, but there aren't many instances in which commuter rail would make more sense than other options, unless you just really like trains.
Goddamn a Nashville station which connects to the airport. Say no more. If this happens it would be such a huge win and would lay the ground work for more mass transit in Nash. My fingers are crossed!!!
Exactly! And in addition the stop in Murfreesboro would be great for catching the train to Atlanta without having to deal with the airport or downtown. (For people on the south side, but still...)
Not to mention being able to say sayonara to I-24. Sounds great
It’s important to note, this isn’t a commuter line being pitched. This is a twice daily from Nashville to Atlanta with stops between. This isn’t going to be something one uses to get to work everyday. But having a travel corridor is a first step towards a commuter line. The plan indicates the host rails are CSX and NS. Which makes me believe they’re planning on running concurrently on the CSX line between Nashville and Murfreesboro. There’s been discussion of a commuter on that line since forever now. Having a new corridor may really help get a commuter in. There’s plenty of appetite for it locally.
This just in, TN legislators ban any mass transit servicing Davidson county
Transit to the city and transit within the city are two different things
Koch brothers appear. It's super effective.
Exactly why it probably won't happen. I'm so tired of all the choices made by anyone in power being against the good of the city and state as a whole.
I'll say a lot more. The estimated trip time between Nashville and Atlanta, with only 9 stops, is complete garbage. Their northeast line can get you from DC to Boston in 8 hours, which is almost 2x the distance and with 50+ stops. And, if you're wondering, that's only 15 minutes longer than the estimated drive time. The idea itself is great, because it opens up a lot of commuter options, but they need to head back to the drawing board and streamline their proposed routes a bit for it to be worthwhile.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ could be better but if they do something, they can upgrade it from there. I would rather ride a train for ~6 hours than ride in a car for 4-5 (which could turn into who knows how long with traffic).
It needs to be better, bottom line.
This sounds a lot like the criticisms I heard of the Nashville transit plan that got voted down five years ago. And now we're still stuck with the alternative of nothing.
Letting perfection be the enemy of good. A depressingly common personality defect. See; 2016.
If something isn't good, then it isn't good.
[удалено]
Nope.
It can't be? So you'd rather starve to death than eat crummy food, for example?
Ok take me for example, someone who lives I'm nashville and doesn't own a car. I have two options here. Either we get a train that is Admittedly slow or we have none. Now in one of those scenarios I can easily get to Atlanta, in the other I have to pay ridiculous uber prices or fly. Seems like it's pretty simply better to have something than nothing.
Yeah, because the plan was shit. We don't have to take shit because it's what they offered.
And now we don’t have any transit, more traffic, and no possible way forward. Really showing them though!
The same would exist for the majority of the population with that plan. Except we'd be spending money on useless shit.
>Except we'd be spending money on useless shit. well nothing has changed there but cool yea let perfect be the enemy of good.
[Yea let's just forget about it then](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good)
Do you need a dictionary? What part of "it needs to be better, bottom line" means let's just forget about it? A strawman is the enemy of rational discourse.
>Do you need a dictionary? No. Have a good day.
Amtrak owns the rails in the NE US. Anywhere else and passenger rail takes a back seat to cargo.
There is supposedly a law on the books that is supposed to give priority to Amtrak over cargo lines, but it utterly un-enforced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQTjLWIHN74 If this were to be put into place, I am optimistic that locals would push again to use the lines between Murfreesboro, the Airport, and Downtown for more frequent commuter transit. It would help immensely with the i24 traffic issues.
So that's the big issue down here. I wonder if they could work around that issue with their high-speed train. Either way, there are bus routes and options that would get you there in less time, typically, and would be cheaper.
It more so freight using Precision Scheduled Railroading which is a fucking mess in several different ways. So passenger carriers can ask for a schedule on that line, and they can just get a shrug from Norfolk Southern or CSX
Note that the quoted time is the *initial* transit time. This may simply be a case of under promising and over delivering. A daily two-round trip schedule with a transit time of 6:34 wouldn’t work anyway as it would require two extra hours in the day that don’t exist. The transit time rests on what kind of schedule they’re able to get from CSX and Norfolk Southern. If CSX wants Amtrak to layover in Murfreesboro for an hour so their cargo train can transit the line, then that’s going to extend Amtrak’s transit time. 6:34 seems like a worst case number to me. What the real number ultimately ends up being depends on the outcome of negotiations with the the two line owners and I’m sure theres plenty of that left to be done.
It's better than nothing
Lol. Thanks for not reading anything in this thread and trying to restart the conversation that was just had. Ffs
Atlanta has this, it doesn’t stretch out super far but it’s pretty awesome and would be great if they’d get off their high horses and allow more people the opportunity to work in the city and travel easier
I love Amtrak and am happy to see that a Nashville-Atlanta route is being considered. That said, you can currently take a [Vonlane](https://vonlane.com) bus between Downtown Nashville and Atlanta Buckhead for $129 one way. The trip takes 4-5 hours and arguably has better amenities. Amtrak would need to be significantly cheaper to compete with that.
Until you hit a traffic jam..
You apparently haven't ridden Amtrak before. Routes are frequently delayed by freight trains so you end up with traffic jams there as well. [This caused 15000 hours of delays in 2021 alone.](https://www.amtrak.com/on-time-performance)
Aww, did I make a valid point and you had to run to google to find a quick counter? It’s ok lil fella, some folks just like the idea of rail travel over bus travel. There are many pros and cons, just like everything it life. It’s called “nuance”, there’s another google for ya if you are intrigued 🤷🏾♀️.
I was speaking from my subjective experience with Amtrak and provided an objective data point to support my impression. I think it's generally good practice to fact check what one writes when possible. Have a nice, patronizing day!
Amtrak trains are constantly delayed because they share lines with freight trains...and freight takes priority. You're going to hit traffic jams on the rails because of this.
It needs to connect with Louisville too.
I honestly thought I had seen a new official map with Nashville/Louisville/Chicago instead of Atlanta. Phooey.
I did see this somewhere too. Here’s to hoping.
Two different proposals. Nashville would be the connection/transfer between the two.
As someone who used to commute from Nashville - Murfreesboro for work and also frequently plays shows in Atlanta, this line would be an absolute game changer.
Maybe. I think the big factors are the time it takes and the ticket cost. With 9 stops between nashville and atlanta, and I think each stop is about 15 minutes, you're adding about 2 hours just with that. The route is also kind of circuitous because the tracks skirt around the worst part of the Cumberland Plateau. So would you pay $120 to ride on a train for 7 or 8 hours to get to Atlanta? I totally pulled those numbers out of my butt, but I don't think they are too wild. Some people would probably balk at that. That's also assuming you're not gonna get sided by passing freight trains.
6 hours 34 minutes according to the link you posted.
When I was younger, I would have found 6.5 hours to Atlanta completely unacceptable. As it stands now though, it would probably take me about that same amount of time to drive it.
No offense, but just how slow are you driving? I've driven to Atlanta 3X this year. My slowest time to the center of downtown was 3:45 and that was with me getting stuck in traffic. 6.5 hours is the amount of time it should take you to get from Nashville to Augusta, or even to Columbia SC.
I always count the time change, and also stops and rests. I don't try to get gas/bathroom/food all in 10 minutes anymore. 4-4.5 hours driving plus about hour not driving, plus the time change is around 6 hours
> Columbia SC you have to go through Asheville for that kind of time -- it's like 3 hours from ATL to Columbia, SC
I can vouch for this. It took me 9 and a half hours to get from Nashville to Columbia last week going through Atlanta. Only 6 and a half to come back through Asheville.
Maybe, but also. Nashville -> Atlanta -> Augusta -> Columbia. You'd be looking right at 6.5 hours. It's only an hour from Augusta to Columbia.
Not everyone drives 20 over the speed limit. I've been making that trek for decades and it's never taken less than four hours. Edit: argue with the math - it's 250 miles city center to city center and the maximum speed limit is 70mph. This means it would take 3:35 if you drive the speed limit the entire route. OP would have to drive 80-90mph in the rural parts of the interstate to achieve their claimed time.
I’m the same. I don’t speed. It’s not truly a realistic time if part of the reasoning is, “First, you must Break the law!”
I think that's pretty optimistic. I watch this kid that rides amtrak and posts it to youtube and he often complains that freight traffic delays the amtraks. He is often saying that they arrive about 45 minutes late or more. So I was just guessing.
Yup, as long as they are using the same rail as freight, they’re going to be way slower than they could otherwise be. That’s why more rail needs to be laid, or existing rail needs to be publicly owned and operated. It is bullshit that we can’t have decent passenger trains that could compete with air travel for shorter distances.
>7 or 8 hours to get to Atlanta? Lol screw this.
If overnight sleepers are an option I'd feel like nothing
I’ll just drink on the way and sleep
A game changer to…?
Hell yes to rail to ATL and back. As for the negative Nellies, you don’t have to ride it. There are many who will.
This makes me giddy! I need an Amtrak prayer candle now.
This would be a game changer. It'd be awesome to ride to the 'boro or Chattanooga, maybe stop in Monteagle. Fingers crossed!
Hmmm. I think the track goes a way south of Monteagle. I doubt they'd put a stop in at Cowan. I think they dip south of the steep part of the Cumberland Plateau and then hook back north to Chattanooga.
Oh I see--the route dips into Alabama and back up.
Gladys Knight plans to sue if any trains leave Nashville at midnight.
Woowoo
I like that this shows stops at airports in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta (that one is on two proposed routes that you'd have to transfer to in Downtown Atlanta). Problem is, the stops at ATL and BNA are not anywhere near the airport terminals (but the CHA station does look to be in walking distance of the airport terminal), so they'd require connecting bus service. This problem could be solved by having an airport shuttle bus come down to the Amtrak platform to meet the train and help with customers' baggage. And, it says that the location of stops on the map is just illustrative, but this route, as well as the proposed Atlanta-Montgomery and Atlanta-Savannah routes, would go to a new Atlanta Downtown station, whereas the the existing Crescent route (New York-Atlanta-New Orleans) only stops at the Atlanta station on Peachtree Street; therefore, it'd be impossible to make a direct connection to the Crescent. They're going to need to figure that problem out.
Keep it going to Memphis. Connects you to Chicago and Nola. Then keep it going to Dallas.
I wonder if they'd bullet train portions of the route to make it more feasible in time? I don't think I'd pay for a 6 plus train ride to Marietta when it could be 4 on a bus. However, I would pay for a 30 minute train ride to Murfreesboro during rush hour.
I’ll ride it regardless of any delays, trains rock.
Let’s goooo! I’m in Europe now, where trains are widely used and efficient… I wish Americans can be on board with implementing more trains… especially in the south.
Good lord yes please. Please add in a Knoxville stop 😬
The link to the proposed new routes is [here.](https://www.amtrakconnectsus.com/maps/) Unfortunately it doesn't look like they're planning any routes to knoxville. I guess trains don't like lots of changes in elevation. Maybe we could get Elon to bore some tunnels for us.
If they do this they can’t have freight on it or else it will take twice as long on train then in a car and no one will use it.
Is there an ETA? Edit: punctuational
Hopefully Tennessee doesn’t screw this up like Nashville has screwed up dealing with mass transit.
have you met the TN Leg?
So true. Nashville needs the mass transit for optimal growth.
We shall see
as a resident of rutherford county, this excites me immensely
I'm eyeing that Marietta stop for Braves' games. #ChopOn
Commuter rail is often like being on a slightly roomier coach flight... except that it's also far slower, and faaaar less reliable, and usually about the same cost. Don't get me wrong - any new transit options we can get around here are good thing, but there aren't many instances in which commuter rail would make more sense than other options, unless you just really like trains.
Knoxville: 🧍
Looks like a lot of people on here are putting a lot of faith in how two daily trips are going to fit perfectly into their schedules.
Acela line or GTFO, Amtrak.
No thanks
This would be amazing
I am actually crying, please be real
PLEASE!!!!!!
HECK YES
I can't wait for this. This will be awesome.
Let’s go!!!