ATLANTA — Having Amtrak set up rail service to Macon is preferable to the state creating a commuter-rail line between Atlanta and Macon, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said Tuesday.
The Macon Telegraph reports that Rep. Terry Coleman, D-Eastman, said he’d prefer to see Amtrak stop in Macon to the state establishing a commuter-rail line to Middle Georgia. Coleman’s comments come a day after the Senate budget committee approved $12 million in tobacco-settlement money to go to building the Macon-Atlanta line.
Amtrak would receive the authority to issue its own bonds under legislation pending in Congress. If passed, Amtrak intends to set up new service on the East Coast, and plans tentatively include a route that would stop in Macon on the way to Savannah.
Sen. Max Cleland, D-Georgia, is a co-sponsor of a bill that would give Amtrak and other rail operators the authority to sell $12 billion worth of bonds for rail projects.
“Amtrak are the rail experts,” said Coleman. “They could handle getting the rail lines ready.”
Amtrak would be given the authority to purchase the rights to the rail lines and make improvements needed to get the rails ready for passenger traffic, Coleman said.
Talks between the state and Norfolk Southern on the rights to use one of the railroad’s rail lines between Macon and Atlanta have stalled because of disagreements on price.
The $12 million for rail also would need approval from Gov. Roy Barnes, who didn’t include that money in his initial budget recommendations for fiscal 2003.
Barnes doesn’t comment on pending legislation, said his spokeswoman, Joselyn Butler. However, rail to Macon still is part of Barnes’ plans, she said.
“The transportation plan tries to strike a balance between rail, roads, buses and HOV lanes, and rail and the Macon line are still part of that plan,” Butler said.
Earlier this year, Barnes said the Macon line was no longer the state’s top passenger-rail priority.
The Senate budget package will be voted on by the full Senate today, then go to a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences between the two versions. The House package doesn’t include Macon rail funds.