See a map of the proposed Bluegrass line (based on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet rail map). The corridor can also be traced on openrailwaymap.org.
A proposed shared-use (not “high speed”) Louisville-Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta passenger line was predicted to cost $27M per mile ($11.6B total) in capital costs and $130M in operating/maintenance costs, and generate $200M/year from fares of $0.28/mile (all in 2010 dollars). See GA, AL, TN, KY High Speed Rail Study - 2012.
Kentucky and Tennessee will likely have to commit millions to the Cincinnati-Lexington-Knoxville-Atlanta "Bluegrass" passenger line capital project to receive federal billions from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and will cost-share operations with Amtrak.
2021-11: US DOT press release, The bipartisan infrastructure bill will deliver for Kentucky (PDF)
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $66 billion above baseline to eliminate the Amtrak maintenance backlog, modernize the Northeast Corridor, and bring world-class rail service to areas outside the northeast and mid-Atlantic. $22 billion would be provided as grants to Amtrak, $24 billion as federal-state partnership grants for Northeast Corridor modernization, and $12 billion for partnership grants for intercity rail service, including high-speed rail. On top of this, Kentucky will be eligible to compete for $5 billion for rail improvement and safety grants and $3 billion for grade crossing safety improvements.
2021-11: Infrastructure bill addresses Amtrak priorities, congressional requirements.
Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose told Trains News Wire last month, “State support and involvement is essential. So is host railroad agreement and support of projects.”
2022: Amtrak Fiscal Year 2023 Grant and Legislative Request (PDF, 3.2MB), Amtrak FY22-27 Five Year Service and Asset Line Plans (PDF, 8.1MB).
2016: Federal Railroad Administration Southeast Regional Investment factsheet.
Kentucky prohibits transportation funding from being spent on passenger rail. Money from Amtrak and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act require state or local match. The legislature or governor must change the law to allow state match spending on passenger rail, and/or other funding sources must be found. See the Transportation Cabinet budget.
Buy-in from cities along the line is essential, cities with stations (Cincinnati, Erlanger, Berea, Corbin, Williamsburg, Knoxville) and without (Georgetown, Lexington, Winchester, Richmond, Livingston, London, La Follette). County support is also important.
Labor unions must be consulted about availability of organized labor for corridor improvement. These include Railroad Workers United, Teamsters (IBT 651), Ironworkers (IABSORIW 70 & 769), Carpenters (UBCJA 1650), Electrical workers (IBEW 369), Plumbers & pipefitters (UA 452), and Laborers (LIUNA 576). Industry, especially Amtrak, Norfolk Southern (CNO&TP First District), RJ Corman Railroad, and CSXT (CC and KD Subdivisions) should be consulted.
Cincinnati's 1st Congressional district is represented by Greg Landsman (D). Northern KY's 4th district is represented by Thomas Massie (R), central KY's 6th district by Andy Barr (R), and southeast KY's 5th district by Hal Rogers (R). Northeast TN's 2nd district is represented by Tim Burchett (R). Representatives should be involved in determining how corridor development will build regional industrial capacity.
The corridor should be included in OH, KY, TN, and GA rail plans, Rail Passengers Association Grid-and-Gateway vision, and Amtrak's vision. State legislators (listed in the tourist guide text linked above) must be encouraged to spend political capital on changing the law to allow transportation budget funding of passenger rail.
2015: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet State Rail Plan (see also the RFP for the next State Rail Plan and FRA’s State Rail Plan Guidance document).
2023, April 21 @1700: Deadline for Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program grants.
2023, June 17 @0900-1700: We'll be at L&N Day at the historic 1917 Berea Depot, 3 Artist Circle.
2023, September 9-10: We'll be at Ravenna Railroad Days.
2023, September 11-12: We hope to present at Appalachian Regional Commission Annual Conference, Ashland.
CSX 2005 employee timetables for Huntington Division West, including CC subdivision and Atlanta Division, including ET subdivision. CSX maps of Appalachian and Atlanta service lanes. NS 2009 Central Division employee timetable, including CNO&TP district.
2023: FRA Long Distance Service Study project. Kentucky is participating in two groups, the Southeast Working Group and Midwest Working Group.
2021: Amtrak connects US website and Amtrak’s Vision for Improving Transportation Across America (PDF). See 2021 Amtrak State factsheets on Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia.
2022-2045 Kentucky Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plan is full of info about where Kentuckians live and how we travel now.
2013: Low-Tech Magazine, High Speed Trains are Killing the European Railway Network
High speed rail is marketed as a sustainable alternative to air traffic. The introduction of a high speed train connection invariably accompanies the elimination of a slightly slower, but much more affordable, alternative route, forcing passengers to use the new and more expensive product, or abandon the train altogether. As a result, business people switch from full-service planes to high speed trains, while the majority are pushed into cars and low-cost airplanes.
Wikipedia: The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (abbreviated: CNO&TP; (reporting mark CNTP)) is a railroad that leases the Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and sub leases it to the Norfolk Southern Railway system.
2023-02: City council discusses future of Cincinnati Southern Railway at committee meeting
Cincinnati city council discussed future of Cincinnati Southern Railway at budget and its finance committee meeting 2023-02-13 @13:00. Agenda: the city-owned railway’s “overview and next steps” were presented to committee members. In Nov 2022 railway trustees voted unanimously to sell it to Norfolk Southern for about $1.6 billion. Closing the sale can’t happen without Cincinnati voter approval, regulatory clearance from U.S. Surface Transportation Board and “passage of proposed state law changes,” according to a Nov 2021 city press release. Current state law requires funds from the sale be spent on Cincinnati’s debts, which the city said wouldn’t happen; the sale would therefore only make it onto a ballot if state lawmakers pass a bill to allow funds to be used for current infrastructure. In Dec 2021, legislative discussions on the sale were halted when the Ohio Senate president tabled the issue.
The amendment’s progress slowed; Ohio Senators Bill Blessing and George Lang, involved in discussions surrounding the amendment, expressed concerns about pushing it through too quickly. Blessing said the amendment will likely go to the transportation budget for March approval. The city said the issue will not be on the ballot until changes are made to how funds can be used. The line has been leased by Norfolk Southern since 1981; in 2021, the lease was extended to 2051. If Cincinnati sells the railway, whichever company purchases it will have to maintain the lease to Norfolk Southern. The commitment to Norfolk Southern has given members of city council pause after one of the company’s trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
2023-02: Concerns over arbitration pushed Cincinnati Southern to accept NS offer
Completion of the sale is contingent on a change in state law to allow revenue to be set aside for city infrastructure projects, and approval by Cincinnati voters. The legislature is expected to consider the matter this year, which would allow it to go to voters in November.