JACKSON, Tenn. — A recent study conducted by the Tennessee Department of transportation throws a new wrinkle into how the state thinks about transportation. TDOT is proposing the state create new passenger and freight rail service between Bristol and Memphis. It’s a fresh approach to an important issue, according to an editorial in the Jackson Sun.
TDOT’s study projects a cost of $1.24 billion to build such a rail system. That is half the cost of widening Interstate 40 to six lanes. The study estimates the rail line would divert 350,000 trucks a year off I-40, reduce fuel consumption and highway maintenance costs.
Creating new rail service, especially passenger rail service, is not high on many people’s lists. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be. In fact, rail offers Tennessee, and the rest of America, an untapped opportunity. Smart planners should be factoring rail service into the transportation equation.
Rail offers many advantages. It is environmentally friendly. Much of the public right-of-way already exists. It can be a very cost effective means of moving freight. Passenger service is a virtually untapped market. Rail lines can be built as fast or faster than major highways.
Passenger rail service also doesn’t mean the demise of the automobile or that Americans will have to give up their love affair with cars. Rather, it offers a reasonable alternative.
European and Asian countries have thriving rail systems. High-speed trains move millions of people quickly to and from work and play. Even in the American Northeast, high-speed rail service is a way of life for many people.
New rail service across Tennessee also would be a boon to the many communities it would pass through and connect. It would create opportunity for industrial growth and bring new jobs to many communities.
Creating a cross-state rail line might seem like a farfetched idea at first. But a review of the TDOT study shows it can be done at reasonable cost and in the near future. It’s a matter of thinking outside the box, or in this case, outside the highway lane markers.