TN: Kelly to chair coalition of cities, states working toward Chattanooga passenger rail

Half a dozen state and local governments are teaming up to get a passenger rail line across Tennessee — and Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly is set to chair their coalition.

Chattanooga officials' proposal to get a rail corridor through the city — a goal that has had its ups and downs over the years — is moving into its second phase, according to a Tuesday presentation to City Council members. That means officials across several municipalities will begin to work together in earnest to find the funds to make it happen.

State governments in Tennessee and Georgia, plus local governments in Atlanta, Nashville and Memphis, are teaming up with Chattanooga officials to create a passenger route that would connect the cities. The first priority would be connecting Nashville and Atlanta, with Chattanooga as a stop in between, according to the presentation.

Then after that line is complete, the cities will work on creating a line from Memphis to Nashville, and possibly one from Chattanooga to Knoxville.

The potential rail corridor across the state, called the Sunbelt Atlantic Connector, will be managed by a nonprofit made up of representatives from those states and cities, plus the state chambers of commerce and various planning agencies. According to the presentation, Kelly will chair them all.

"Chattanooga has been holding the clipboard," said Ellis Smith, the city's director of intergovernmental affairs and passenger rail project manager. "We are the lead agency."

The first research phase of the project was funded by a $500,000 federal grant. That phase studied questions of scope, cost and engineering required to make the rail line happen. The research found that using existing freight lines for passenger trains would be the simplest approach, Smith said in an interview at the time.

Still, the corridor will likely require laying some additional track side-by-side so passenger trains can pass slower freight trains and stay on schedule, according to the presentation.

Moving forward, the federal government will provide a 90%-10% match to the funds raised by the cities and states involved in the project. For example, if the entire project is worth $10 million, then Chattanooga, alongside the other governments, will need to come up with $1 million.

Though the Trump administration's grant clawbacks have affected other Chattanooga projects, this particular federal program — corridor identification and development — has stayed afloat. City officials say they're not worried about funding for the project.

During the presentation, Smith said his team predicts the next phase of the project to lay the track and prep the corridor will be about $5 million, meaning across the cities of Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta, as well as Tennessee and Georgia state governments, the total ask would be $500,000. He doesn't expect fundraising for that part to be a problem, Smith said.

He also expects the Tennessee Department of Transportation to be motivated to help with funding, since the corridor could have a positive effect on rural towns across the state as more stops are built out, Smith said.

"If you think about a lot of these small towns that you've been through on your travels, they were probably put there by the railroad in the first place," Smith said. "When the railroad pulled out, it probably didn't help things ... This would be a shot in the arm for a lot of those communities, bringing people back.

Once the construction phase has funding, it would likely take two years to finish, Smith said.

Eventually, though, the city will have to look at building a passenger train station, Smith said — which will likely cost significantly more than $500,000 and is not covered by the corridor's grant program.

Smith's team has looked at several locations around town, including near where the new Lookouts stadium is being built or by Amnicola Highway, where the freight lines have rail yards.

Council member Cody Harvey of East Brainerd asked if either the Chattanooga Choo Choo or the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum would be feasible locations. Smith said it would be possible, but they might not be the best options overall for the speed and efficiency of the corridor based on the arrangement of the current rail lines.

The trains will likely be operated by Amtrak, Smith told council members, but there are other options to look at like Brightline, a private railroad with trains primarily in Florida.

Once the plans for the coalition and the results of the research are approved by the Federal Railroad Administration, Chattanooga officials and their partners will be able to start working with freight lines on construction projects. The federal government is expected to review the plans this spring.

© 2026 the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.). Visit www.timesfreepress.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.