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Is all this asking too much? Well, yes — if you continue to host only two trains and about 300 people a day, as Amtrak does now.
Yet a new terminal linked to the region’s other public transportation stands a greater chance of attracting new passengers and expanded service than the Brookwood station on Peachtree Street in Buckhead, a pocket-sized whistlestop that opened in 1918 for the Southern Railway.
....
A new terminal is a priority for Amtrak in Atlanta.
“There certainly is a sense of urgency within my department,” Jeff Mann, Amtrak’s assistant vice president for policy and development for the Southern region, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A new station would allow us to pursue growth opportunities in Atlanta as far as regional service, a new corridor and connecting with MARTA services that we may not be able to access at the [current terminal].”
Operations are limited at the current terminal. Norfolk Southern’s main line shuts down while Amtrak trains are in the station; there isn’t room for Amtrak to pull off the main tracks during boarding. (Norfolk Southern also favors relocating the Amtrak terminal; alas, it can’t offer financial help.)
Amtrak is conducting a feasibility study and should have a preferred site for a new terminal early next year. Then the real work begins to secure funding, environmental approval and new agreements with other rail users and owners.
Jeff Smith wrote:...and as a denizen of Georgia, so am I. I've long thought Atlanta needs a second daily frequency, a day train from ATL to NYP. Interesing asides in the editorial include reference to regional services.
mtuandrew wrote:Ow, that is a really cramped station location. Very convenient to the highway, but not really a place to lay over.
The two obvious areas I see are near the Atlantic Station shopping center and at the Five Points MARTA station. While Five Points would be preferable for getting people into the heart of downtown, Atlantic Station might be the cheaper option, and would be better for through Crescent service.
The area near Georgia Tech and the Coca-Cola headquarters campus is another option, but I don't see much room for expansion there.
What are your thoughts, Jeff?
afiggatt wrote:However, an Atlanta to Raleigh NC day train should be viable. NC has the funding to expand Piedmont corridor service to 4-5 daily round trip trains plus the Carolinian. NC and GA could cooperate to get the additional equipment needed to extend one Piedmont slot into a daily Raleigh - Charlotte - Atlanta train. Set the schedule so the eastbound ATL - RGH train allows for connections to a southbound Silver Star and the west bound leaves late enough for connections from the northbound Silver Star. If it could be done, perhaps extend the ATL - RGH train to originate & terminate at Rocky Mount to bring those cities into the route, but looking at the schedule, would not provide for same day connections to the Silver Meteor or Palmetto. NC and Amtrak could probably start up a RGH to ATL service to the existing Atlanta station if NS is willing - and the equipment is available.
Jeff Smith wrote:As for service levels, I agree that hours for a daylight run to NYP are not great; however, they do it with the Palmetto from Savannah (which arrives around midnight in NYP; IMO they leave too late from Savannah after 0800). I do like the idea of shorter runs to Raleigh, but would still prefer a run to at least DC.
Gilbert B Norman wrote:"This is the place"
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