NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Middle Tennessee is another step closer to getting passenger rail service, which could link Nashville to Atlanta.
It’s been more than four decades since Amtrak’s last train pulled out of the station in Nashville, but a new $500,000 federal grant is working to get wheels turning once again.
The city of Chattanooga applied for funds to look at a railway linking Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. Funds will come from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Corridor Identification and Development Program. The money will go toward studying the scope, schedule, and cost of the project.
News on potential passenger rail locations in Tennessee could be coming later this year
“It’s literally like we are isolated from the rest of the country. We’re the third largest city in the entire country without passenger rail; we need to have connection. We have a line in Memphis, but we need to have connection to the other states,” said state Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville). “It’s going to be a huge economic boom and win for not just alleviating our transportation problems, making a small dent in that issue that we’re facing, but also a major economic win for the state of Tennessee.”
Underground Donut tour guide Tracey Hague was in favor of the railway, hoping it would help with traffic congestion and also benefit tourists visiting the area. Hague added that she used to live on the East Coast, where she used the passenger railway to get to New York regularly.
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