Imagine catching a train to Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Little Rock.
Making that a reality is now in the planning stages, and transportation experts say passenger rail is getting its biggest push in decades. In Tennessee, officials have been working in the background to develop a plan to, maybe, connect the state’s largest cities: Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. A federal grant program could help planners here to connect Tennessee to other states via rail.
In 2022, the Tennessee General Assembly asked the state-housed Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) to begin studying “the potential for passenger rail service linking the major cities in each of the Grand Divisions of the state.”
Lawmakers wanted to know the condition of existing rail tracks here and who owns them. They wanted to see what a network of rail lines between the cities would look like. How many state-sponsored rail projects have been done over the last decade? What are other states doing on passenger rail?
What are the costs? How many people might ride it? Who would operate it? What kind of property would need to be acquired? Where would passenger stations be built? What kind of equipment — engines, train cars, and the rest — would need to be purchased?
Lawmakers gave TACIR more than a year to answer most, if not all, of those questions. Since then, the commission has logged many hours of hearings and studies. Its report on passenger rail in Tennessee is due in July.
TACIR’s research plan (the plan to plan the plan, if you will) said lawmakers “believe freedom of movement and an interconnected economy are important aspects of the quality of life for Tennesseans” and for economic opportunities.
“Sponsors assert that when people can move freely between urban areas in Tennessee, it expands access to entertainment, shopping, and business venues …,” reads the report. “Additionally, sponsors feel it is important to explore feasible options to promote public mobility services as an amenity to bridge the gap between the traditional expectation of unfettered mobility and the modern constraints of transportation costs, congestion, negative environmental effects, and public health concerns.”
It seems Tennessee missed out on millions of dollars of federal funds to identify new rail routes, though. While TACIR is still working on a state plan, a key federal deadline passed.
Last May, the Biden Adminstration announced a $1.8 billion funding program to help states plan new passenger rail lines. This fund was approved by Congress in 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
For this, Transportation for America, a transportation advocacy group, called the money a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to boost rail across the country.
“If Amtrak, states, interstate compacts, regional passenger rail authorities, and localities play their cards right, these historic funding levels coming from the [Federal Railroad Administration — FRA] and the renewed national mandate for Amtrak can result in a much improved and expanded national network of passenger rail,” the group said in a February blog post.
Applications for projects were due in March. A list of projects that get funded is due Saturday. No Tennessee project will be on the list, apparently.
However, state officials have another potential funding source to plan for rail. On Monday, the FRA opened applications for a $5.8-million program to help states plan rail connections to other states. The deadline for this program is July 10th.
“Interstate rail compacts will advance passenger rail service such as between cities like Memphis and Little Rock and will provide the mechanism and technical assistance for greater cooperation between states in advancing passenger rail,” Rep. Steven Cohen (D-Memphis) said in a statement Wednesday. “I was proud to have introduced the Interstate Rail Advancement Act and was at the White House when President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that included its provisions. I will continue to work to improve passenger rail service and continue to advocate a passenger rail line between Memphis and Nashville.”
