They are also going to want connections out of Atlanta for business or pleasure and more connectivity is only going to help out with increasing the number of people willing to hop a train to and from Atlanta.

From a ridership standpoint it only makes sense that these projects go hand in hand. More people on long distance transit, want to go somewhere that they can take transit in the vicinity as well.

In looking at the Google Map of the NE side of Altanta, I see a lot of warehouse’s, malls, and very spread out development along the route. All of these places are going to reap huge financial rewards if this project comes to pass, meaning that this will be where the city is built for the next 30 years. Even if it means some eminent domain issues here and there, the majority of the property owners in the area are going to do just fine through all of this, so perhaps allowing for widening of the corridor to accommodate freight, LR and passenger rail is the key.

Also, regarding backing, in Tampa they back you up while you are onboard before arriving at the station, in order to back into the Tampa terminal. Not sure about why they do it there and not elsewhere.

It would be a great addition and bring more visitors too the city. It would also help with commerce. It would also help put people back to work and help with the value in the falling housing market in ATL>

For the Crescent, keep stopping it where it stops right now. It’s just one train a day. If frequency increases, build a station at Lenox for a connection with Marta.

HSR actually is planned to go to Macon, not Birmingham, so the north-south platforms at the MMTC will work just fine for that.

I think your idea about reinstating the Southerner and restating the original route of the Crescent makes a lot of sense.

But the issue of backing trains is an interesting one; in Europe, as well, many through trains enter terminals and then exit without discharging passengers. This is, however, easier on the Old Continent where most trains have locomotives at both ends, and where the principal change required is the driver getting from one end of the train to the other.

And yes, let’s hope the Beltway happens… it’s a good idea.

I would like to nitpick one little thing. Ryan Gravel (pronounced Gruh-vell), who came up with the concept, was a graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology (my alma mater), which along with GSU is also in Atlanta.

Anyway, this is not a new problem. GDOT has been trying to hold up both the Northeast and Southwest portions of the line since the very beginning. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported on these issues before, but some explanation is necessary.

All of this could be avoided if Amtrak was willing to do one of two things:

1. Allow trains to back out of terminal stations.
2. Reinstate the route of the “Southerner” and return the “Crescent” to it’s original routing.

Because of the nature of Atlanta’s rail network, which was originally funneled into two stations, it is difficult to have any through trains. Many trains passing through Atlanta went through “The Terminal” which, as it’s name suggests, was a terminal station. Like all terminal stations along the Amtrak system, it was closed because Amtrak will not back trains while passengers are onboard.

Backing at Atlanta Terminal (or the proposed Multimodal Terminal) would only be backing for a couple hundred yards, to get back onto the main or through a wye, but Amtrak refuses to do that. So for the same reason that the Atlanta Amtrak station is miles from downtown and blocks from the nearest subway station, Savannah and Jacksonville’s stations are out by railyards, completely inaccessible by transit–and not contributing to urban redevelopment.

Incidentally, VIA Rail Canada backs it’s flagship train “The Canadian” as a regular part of its route out of Toronto. “The Ocean” also backs into Charny while en route from Halifax to Montreal. So it’s not impossible or dangerous. And the Pennsylvanian, from New York to Pittsburgh, runs backwards (from a passenger perspective) from New York Penn to Philadelphia, there is however a locomotive in front, while passengers ride backwards. This suggests that a switcher locomotive could pull trains out of terminal platforms at Atlanta. And there probably would be one because Georgia’s commuter rail network (if ever built) would include many lines.

Back to the other concept. If the Cresent ran along it’s present routing from New York to Atlanta (via Washington and Charlotte), and then took it’s original routing to New Orleans (via Montgomery and Mobile), it could be served at the Multimodal Terminal by north-south platforms.

To maintain service to Birmingham and Meridian, one could reinstate service between Atlanta and New Orleans on the route of the Southerner. I think it makes the most sense to extend this route north of Atlanta by going through Augusta, GA and Columbia SC, where it would join the “Silver Star” to continue on to Washington and New York. This alignment would allow it to use east-west through tracks at the Mutlimodal Terminal.

Either one (or both) of these proposals would allow the Beltline to exist, and would improve Amtrak service (by putting it in Downtown Atlanta) by perhaps increase service to new cities (by reinstating the Southerner).