Last week, Amtrak released details on Amtrak Connects US — its plan to expand and add new rail across 160 communities and 25 states over the next 15 years.
The newly released map brings Amtrak back to Nashville via a new line connecting Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta. The proposed route includes five stations in Tennessee — Nashville, Nashville International Airport, Murfreesboro, Tullahoma and Chattanooga — and would offer two daily round trips from Nashville to Atlanta.
In an effort to prevent Amtrak’s proposed line from being derailed, Democratic whip and state Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) is calling for the creation of a so-called Train Travel Caucus. Powell says the bipartisan caucus would lead the vanguard on expanding and promoting rail transportation in Tennessee.
“It is time for train travel across Tennessee,” Powell says. “The announcement of the proposed Amtrak route from Nashville to Chattanooga to Atlanta, Ga., is a game-changer and a great first step for expanding passenger rail service in Tennessee.”
Ultimately, Powell says he would like to see a state agency similar to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. Powell says the Tennessee Agency of Rail and Public Transportation would be tasked with assessing feasibility and environmental impacts, studying providing leadership and funding.
Powell’s call for the caucus comes less than a month after he filed HB2278, which would allocate funding to the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to conduct a feasibility study on expanding rail in Tennessee. The bill would require the commission to report its findings and make recommendations based upon them. In 2020, he sponsored a similar bill which also sought to evaluate the viability of Amtrak and other rail expansion in Tennessee. That legislation gained traction, earning 18 co-sponsors and even passing in the Senate. But the Calendar and Rules committee hit the brakes on the bill due to a lack of funding.
Nashville lost Amtrak service to Atlanta in 1971. Eight years later, the city lost service altogether with the discontinuation of the Chicago-to-Miami line that ran through the city.
With more than 2 million residents, the Nashville metropolitan area is the third-largest metro area in the U.S. without Amtrak service. Columbus, Ohio, and Las Vegas, Nev., are the only two larger cities lacking service, and both have been included in Amtrak’s proposed expansion. Powell fears that Nevada and Ohio — which have made mass transit more of priority than Tennessee has — may be further along in securing Amtrak.
“We must do everything in our power as a state to make certain the Nashville line is a priority within the new trillion-dollar federal infrastructure bill,” Powell says. “ I believe legislators united behind passenger rail and a new government agency focused on this issue are necessary for success.”
The $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed last year includes the largest investment — $66 billion in funding — in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak in 1971.
While Powell supports Amtrak’s newly proposed map, he says it doesn’t go far enough.
“I want to see passenger rail go much further, and I hope to see Amtrak service across Tennessee, including a line from Knoxville to Memphis through Nashville and a northern line to Louisville, Ky.,” he says. “Passenger rail service will reduce traffic, improve the quality of life and create numerous jobs in Tennessee.”
Louisville is the fourth-largest metropolitan area and Knoxville the seventh-largest lacking Amtrak service, Powell points out. He says it's critical that Amtrak re-establishes a presence in Nashville because it will clear the way for future routes to Louisville and Knoxville.
