Chattanooga passenger rail project nears end of Phase 1

The Chattanooga passenger rail project is moving toward its next stage, with city leaders saying the initial $500,000 research phase is close to finished.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Mayor Tim Kelly discussed the update at a Rotary Club meeting Thursday, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, as the city continues to weigh scope, costs and engineering needs.

Kelly said Phase 1 is wrapping up after starting in early 2024, when Chattanooga began studying what it would take to bring passenger trains back, from overall project scope to the engineering work involved. “We’ve been playing footsie with the idea of a train here for, what, 50 years? 40?” he said. “We are now past Phase 1, and it has a very real chance of happening.”

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City officials have described a route that would connect Chattanooga into a corridor with stops in Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta. From Atlanta, the corridor could link riders to dozens of destinations across the East Coast.

What Phase 1 found for the Chattanooga passenger rail project?

After the meeting, Kelly said the city is moving toward creating a nonprofit business organization—modeled on groups like the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce—to guide the effort. The governing structure would include officials from multiple governments, including Georgia and Tennessee at the state level, though key operating details still have to be worked out.

Ellis Smith, Chattanooga’s director of intergovernmental affairs and the passenger rail project manager, described the pace in simple terms. “This whole thing proceeds kind of crawl, walk, run,” Smith said.

Even if funding were fully in place today, Smith said the project would likely take five to seven years to wrap up.

Funding plan and federal match requirements

Phase 1 was funded by a U.S. Department of Transportation grant, and the city previously pointed to the $500,000 award in a City of Chattanooga release. Looking ahead, Smith said the federal government is expected to match money raised by the cities and states involved, following the same basic approach described for the effort.

He offered an example: if the total project cost were $10 million, Chattanooga and other participating governments would need to come up with $1 million.

Although the Trump administration’s grant clawbacks have affected other Chattanooga projects, officials said this specific federal program—corridor identification and development—has remained in place, as outlined on the Federal Railroad Administration website. They added they are not worried about the passenger rail project’s funding prospects under that program.

Phase 2 engineering focus: track, freight and crossings

Much of the rail corridor already exists and is used for freight service. Smith said the route will likely require some additional track placed side-by-side so passenger trains can pass slower freight trains and stay on schedule.

He also said there will be work at railroad crossings along the route to keep them safe as traffic increases.

Smith said Phase 2 will take a deeper look at these engineering requirements. Meanwhile, he and his team are close to finishing an economic impact plan as part of Phase 1.

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