Gwinnett Daily Post | Southeast passenger rail options discussed in Suwanee

SUWANEE — As a Winder resident who works in Duluth, Randall Parker often wonders why he can’t ride a train to work. And if a proposed passenger train is approved and funded, Parker could one day travel by train to a family farm near Charlotte, N.C.

Parker was one of dozens of local residents, economic development representatives and engineering consultants to attend a public presentation by Georgia Department of Transportation officials in Suwanee on Tuesday. The meeting opened a 30-day period in which residents can comment on the scoping study. Once that closes, GDOT will evaluate the public comments and develop a preferred alternative path also based on cost and ridership analysis, spokeswoman Natalie Dale said.

By 2015, GDOT would end the environmental process portion of the project, and if funding is agreed upon, passengers could ride the first train in 2025, Dale said. The cost is about $5 million. A federal grant would cover 80 percent of the cost, and the state would be responsible for 20 percent, Dale said.

The project is designed to serve the people who the project will affect. That’s why public input is solicited, she said.

The six initial route alternatives start in Atlanta, but extend to cities such as Augusta, Lawrenceville, Suwanee, Athens, Gainesville and Toccoa, then into South Carolina by the state’s cities of Columbia, Anderson, Clemson before stopping in Charlotte.

The proposed service would be an extension of the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor that is under development between Charlotte and Washington.

via Gwinnett Daily Post | Southeast passenger rail options discussed in Suwanee.