(The following story by Andy Peters appeared on the Macon Telegraph website on March 4.)
ATLANTA, Ga. — House Speaker Terry Coleman wants to sign a contract with Amtrak to jump-start the state’s slow-moving plans to launch a commuter rail line to Middle Georgia.
Coleman and fellow House Democrats also plan to put $5 million in next year’s state budget to provide operating costs for the rail line. The state Department of Transportation has $106 million on hand to buy rail cars and equipment and to upgrade tracks but needs a firm commitment from the state to fund the line’s operations once it’s up and running.
A majority of members of the House Democratic leadership team are from south and Middle Georgia and are eager to launch commuter-rail service from Atlanta to Macon as soon as possible. Coleman, who is from Eastman, has tried to bring passenger rail to Middle Georgia for years.
“We’re trying to get the train to Macon as quickly as we can,” said Rep. Hinson Mosley, D-Jesup.
In a Wednesday meeting with Democratic lawmakers, Amtrak executives and state transportation officials, Coleman expressed frustration with the DOT for moving too slowly on passenger rail, for limiting the scope of initial plans to Lovejoy in southern Clayton County and for ignoring the Legislature in the planning process.
Specifically, the DOT earlier this year asked Gov. Sonny Perdue for a commitment of up to $4 million a year for operating a rail line to Lovejoy. Perdue has not yet responded to the request.
“You’ll sit here till hell freezes over waiting for the governor to write you a check,” Coleman said Wednesday. “The governor doesn’t appropriate money in this state, the Legislature does. If you don’t get your act together, something is going to change.”
Amtrak, Coleman believes, would not only help speed the process of getting passenger-rail service started but would also help Georgia leverage desperately needed federal dollars.
“I trust Amtrak to tell us what we need to do,” Coleman said. “Up to now, the negotiations (with Norfolk Southern) have been held in secret, and no one has ever told us anything or given us a long-range plan.”
Norfolk Southern Corp. owns the two rail lines between Atlanta and Macon and has been negotiating to either lease or sell one of the lines to the state for passenger-rail service.
Coleman has the backing of numerous Democratic legislators from south of Atlanta who want the trains to go farther south than Lovejoy and to travel faster. The best way to do that, these lawmakers say, is to start running the trains all the way to Macon first, not Lovejoy.
“If the train is just to Lovejoy, it’s seen as just another Atlanta project,” said Rep. Tommy Smith, D-Alma, chairman of the House State Planning and Community Affairs Committee. “If you put Macon on the table, it generates a lot more interest in the Legislature.”
Terms of a state contract with Amtrak have not yet been determined or disclosed.
The $5 million is no sure thing, as the state Senate could remove the money from the 2005 budget, and Perdue could also veto it.
Other lawmakers who live along the rail line are also awaiting official state approval to get started on rail. Rep. Mike Barnes, D-Hampton, said he has a commitment from cities in Clayton County to provide some financial assistance to passenger rail’s operating needs.
“What I want to do is get the train running and not delay it in any way,” Barnes said.
The Economic Development Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee will add $5 million to the fiscal 2005 budget in the next two weeks, said Barnes, who is chairman of that committee. The source of those funds, whether from the general fund or from bonds, is yet to be determined, he said.
Amtrak, the federally operated passenger-rail system, would initially be hired to provide consulting to state transportation planners. But Amtrak could eventually be hired to run the state’s commuter-rail line, as it does in Maine, the Pacific Northwest and other locations, said Gil Mallery, Amtrak’s Washington-based vice president of strategic planning and contract administration.
“There are a lot of people in Georgia who want to get something down on this now,” said Mallery, who was in Atlanta on Wednesday to meet with Coleman.
DOT board member Emory McClinton said a subcommittee he chairs meets next week and will explore signing a contract with Amtrak. State Board of Transportation members are selected by the Legislature, so Coleman and House Democrats have a great deal of leverage to force the DOT’s hand to hire Amtrak.
“We’ve had meetings with Amtrak, and we’re ready to sign a contract,” Smith said.
However, state transportation officials warned that hiring Amtrak could throw a wrench in the system. They said that plans floated in December by DOT Commissioner Harold Linnenkohl could be jeopardized right at the point they are about to be implemented.
“We’re about to interrupt this process as it’s about to give birth,” said Steve Roberts, a private rail consultant who has helped the state develop plans for a commuter-rail network.
Plans call for the trains to run about every half-hour and make the trip from Atlanta to Lovejoy in about 46 minutes. The trains probably would travel about 60 mph between Atlanta and Lovejoy, making stops in East Point, Forest Park, Morrow and Jonesboro.
Wednesday’s discussion also touched on how much it would cost to upgrade the tracks so trains could travel 80 mph between Atlanta and Macon. Mallery said running trains at that speed could mean an additional $100 million in construction costs.