The proposed 85 billion dollar merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, now under review at the Surface Transportation Board, has revived a decade-old plan to build a freight rail bypass around Atlanta.
The concept was developed by Mark Hitchcock of Jacobs Engineering. It would route freight trains that currently run through the center of Atlanta onto existing Norfolk Southern and CSX track in a U-shaped belt line, functioning for rail much as Interstate 285 functions for highway traffic. Hitchcock estimates that diverting 80 percent of freight trains would free enough track capacity for as many as 14 commuter rail lines. Completing the loop would require roughly 12 miles of new track in Atlanta's southeastern quadrant.
The projected cost runs as high as 6 billion dollars. Hitchcock compares that figure against the 90 billion dollars a Georgia State House committee estimated last week the state must spend on roads through 2050 to keep pace with truck volume growth. He argues the state cannot build enough highway capacity to absorb a doubling of freight tonnage by 2050, a point at which 86 percent of freight would move by truck under current trends.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has expressed interest in the concept and connected the backing nonprofit, the Atlanta Design Roundtable, with a regional commission. The Surface Transportation Board is not expected to rule until 2027, and stakeholders have until September 4 to join the merger evaluation process. Union Pacific has said in merger filings that it plans to move more than 500 management jobs from Norfolk Southern's Atlanta headquarters to Omaha.
Source: FreightWaves - https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-mega-merger-revives-proposal-for-new-expanded-atlanta-passenger-services-and-theres-a-trucking-angle