Nancy Hanks III?

I wonder if this corridor is on Brightline's radar?

I doubt it; I don’t think the market is there for the frequency they’d want. Additionally I think there are better markets for them. Their focus now is on Tampa and Vegas. Maybe Texas after that.

west point wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 11:56 pm There is too much emphasis on end point to end point. What about the peron who has an unreliable car that needs to go Madison - Dalton?

Indeed. A significant element of NCDOT’s willingness to bankroll intra-state service on the Piedmont is the political support provided by the intermediate stops. This has even encouraged NCDOT to build new stations in the two unserved intermediate counties between Charlotte and Raleigh. Georgia’s population distribution means that getting political support from just a few intermediate places (plus Atlanta and Savannah and Macon) will make state funding practically bulletproof.

Back in NC, the new Piedmont frequency will begin in July, the new schedule will result in a couple of intermediate stops getting skipped on some trains (all intermediate stations will keep the same number of trains they have today). The political pushback on that choice has been surprising.

Is there interest in the Georgia legislature, on the majority side of the aisle, or is this mostly coming from Ossoff?

Typically it’s from Atlanta area legislators. GDOT has expansive plans for commuter and intrastate rail, but widespread support has never materialized. The legislative leadership controls the agenda…

I’d add that you probably need to add Columbus and Valdosta to the mix to generate that support. In the context of this though it’s all about Chattanooga, Nashville, and Memphis.

ATL <> Columbus? The old C of GA Man of War train route. The population growth thru Newnan where it split off the CSX ( A&WP) trackage has been explosive. However, ATL - CSG would be better served if LaGrange GA would be better split to COG. What could make COG an even more important destination would have train extended about 8 miles into the Ft Benning ( now ft Moore ) property with a station built on present track. Alternatively restore about 4 miles into heart of the Fort and build a station.

Trains to ATL and back would help personnel to commute into Fort and connect in ATL to national Amtrak network. Expansion has overwhelmed base housing.

This route to COG compares very favorably to total population of ATL - SAV.

Bob Roberts wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 6:23 am

west point wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 11:56 pm There is too much emphasis on end point to end point. What about the peron who has an unreliable car that needs to go Madison - Dalton?

Back in NC, the new Piedmont frequency will begin in July, the new schedule will result in a couple of intermediate stops getting skipped on some trains (all intermediate stations will keep the same number of trains they have today). The political pushback on that choice has been surprising.

I can see why there'd be pushback for that. The two trains that skip multiple stops arrive in Charlotte at 9:28 AM, and depart it at 5:30 PM. Not sure why they chose to do that, actually. I know little about the Piedmont, though.

I think the thinking here was that these are not commuter services, and are more likely to be used to allow people to travel from Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, or Cary (the five largest cities on the route and 5 of the 7 largest cities in the state) to other destinations for a few hours and not vice-versa, but that these two trips allow one to take a day trip from Raleigh to Charlotte "in under 3 hours". Given where the current Charlotte station is, it is not a useful "commuter" route.

I said travel from larger city to smaller cities because I'm under the impression that populations who choose to be carless are more likely to live in the larger cities than the smaller cities (even post pandemic, cyclability, public transportation, and services like Uber and Lyft are much better in larger cities than smaller cities). Note that I am deliberately picking on choice here, as (again) I am under the impression those same populations are also more likely to travel than populations that are carless due to poverty.

electricron wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 1:57 pm I believe the most important reason why the North Carolina legislature supports the Piedmont as much as it does is because they actually own the NCRR stocks and over 90% of the railroad corridor.

The state of Georgia owns the former Western and Atlantic from Atlanta to Chattanooga, if I'm not mistaken.

Off topic but still related.

Reviewing the Wiki article on the W&A, I never knew that the Great Locomotive Chase, or the Andrew's Raid, went Northward, rather than South. I'm hardly a Civil War buff in this life, but I guess I had such confused with the March to the Sea, which, obviously, was Southward.

The Chase started ar Kennesaw, some 10 miles North of Atlanta, and ended at Ringgold, GA, on the GA-TN border.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:43 am Off topic but still related.

Reviewing the Wiki article on the W&A, I never knew that the Great Locomotive Chase, or the Andrew's Raid, went Northward, rather than South. I'm hardly a Civil War buff in this life, but I guess I had such confused with the March to the Sea, which, obviously, was Southward.

The Chase started ar Kennesaw, some 10 miles North of Atlanta, and ended at Ringgold, GA, on the GA-TN border.

Several years ago, on my way back from Walker County back to the Atlanta Amtrak station, I stopped at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History and saw the General of the Great Locomotive Chase fame and a documentary about the race. Quite fascinating actually.

Would be a good place for an Amtrak station...