It’s been talked about for decades: passenger rail service between Atlanta and Georgia’s other major cities. Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson says she’s determined to make it happen. Tomlinson has appointed a passenger rail committee and commissioned a feasibility study on a Columbus to Atlanta link. While she cautions that the plan is still on an "early, conceptual" level, the study showed that the rail line would be profitible in the first year. The cheapest option for building the service would cost just over a billion dollars.

The all-electric line would run directly from Columbus to Atlanta, with a stop in Newnan. Columbus is trying to raise public and private funds to pay for a $4 million assessment of the line's environmental impact. Tomlinson says she envisions funding for rail service itself to come from a mix of federal grants and private dollars. The Mayor and other leaders pitching a plan for rail service to Atlanta. State officials are trying to come up with a "Plan B" to fund Georgia's long-term transportation needs, after a majority of voters rejected the Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) in 2012.

Tags: Bradley George, Teresa Tomlinson, Columbus, passenger rail