KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — More than 80 potential passengers attended a public meeting Thursday night to see for themselves whether the state’s new freight and passenger rail plan could soon become a reality, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.
Knoxville was the third stop by Tennessee Department of Transportation officials, who are making the case for developing a Bristol-to-Memphis corridor that would compete with ever-expanding traffic along Interstates 40 and 81.
If fully implemented, the new plan could initially move 350,000 commercial trucks off the roadways, as well as divert 115,000 automobile trips per year.
For many in the audience of the Small Assembly Room at the City County Building, the numbers sounded promising. But when the floor was opened to questions, the bottom line factor quickly surfaced.
Rail transportation would cost more and take longer for the public, not to mention deny travelers the freedom of an automobile, said Knoxville resident Annette Winston.
“If you asked me in a consumer survey if I would ride this thing, I would say no,” Winston said. “I think a lot of consumers would rather stay in their cars.”
Ben Smith, director of TDOT’s Public Transportation, Rail and Water Division, agreed.
The annual ridership estimates, “don’t even begin to scratch the service of the numbers on the interstates,” Smith said. “But we think there’s a lot of consumers who would appreciate another option. This proposal is not for everybody. It’s for people who want something else.”
The plan identifies four initial lines that would serve Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Bristol. Officials say they would be the most economically feasible, with an estimated total cost of $1.2 billion.
Passenger costs are estimated to be comparable to current Amtrak rates, or about 10 to 15 cents per mile.
Ultimately, the system’s annual operating costs would still be subsidized by public funding. The most successful lines are expected to generate only 70 percent of expenses, Smith said.
But over the next 20 years, the plan could more than pay for itself in costs saved on expenses such as interstate expansion, road maintenance and freight shipping, he added.
Knoxville resident and California transplant David Orr said he appreciated the option of passenger rail service along the West Coast and welcomed the idea here.
“It just made such a difference,” said Orr, who often travels across Tennessee on business. “There is a future for passenger rail service in this state I would absolutely be on a train 90 percent of those trips.”
TDOT officials are looking at similar rail plans under way in Virginia. Construction could begin within five years, Smith said. But federal funding for the plan is still uncertain and route alignments for several segments are also still being explored, such as the leg to cross the Cumberland Plateau.
Whether the plan succeeds will, in large part, depend on the public, Smith told attendees.
“It all of sort of depends on you,” he said.