Nashville, Tennessee Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Intercity rail==== [[File:Music City Star.jpg|thumb|A [[WeGo Star]] commuter train beneath the [[Shelby Street Bridge]]]] Although a major freight hub for [[CSX Transportation]], Nashville is not currently served by [[Amtrak]], the [[List of major cities in the United States lacking inter-city rail service|third-largest metropolitan area]] in the U.S. to have this distinction.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.narprail.org/resources/fact-sheets/2056-msaservice |title=National Association of Railroad Passengers - Amtrak Service by Metro Area |access-date=December 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227131656/http://www.narprail.org/resources/fact-sheets/2056-msaservice |archive-date=December 27, 2013 }}</ref> Nashville's [[Union Station (Nashville)|Union Station]] had once been a major intercity passenger rail center for the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]]; [[Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway]]; and the [[Tennessee Central Railway]], reaching Midwestern cities and cities on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. However, by the time of Amtrak's founding, service had been cut back to a single train, the ''[[Floridian (train)|Floridian]]'', which ran from [[Chicago]] to [[Miami]] and [[St. Petersburg, Florida]]. It served Union Station until its cancellation on October 9, 1979, due to poor track conditions resulting in late trains and low ridership, ending over 120 years of intercity rail service in Nashville. While there have been few proposals to restore Amtrak service to Nashville, there have been repeated calls from residents.<ref name=amtrak>{{cite news |first=Kate |last=Howard |title=Fans of rail want Amtrak here; Nashville not ready to support train service, state says |work=[[The Tennessean]] |date=July 2, 2007 |url=http://reporterkatehoward.blogspot.com/2007/07/tennessean-7207-fans-of-rail-want.html |access-date=October 30, 2012}}</ref> In addition to scarce federal funding, Tennessee state officials do not believe that Nashville is large enough to support intercity rail. "It would be wonderful to say I can be in Memphis and jump on a train to Nashville, but the volume of people who would do that isn't anywhere close to what the cost would be to provide the service," said Ed Cole, chief of environment and planning with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.<ref name=amtrak/> Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said rail trips would catch on if routes were expanded, but conceded that it would be nearly impossible to resume Amtrak service to Nashville without a substantial investment from the state.<ref name=amtrak/> However, in 2020, Amtrak indicated it was considering a service that would run from Atlanta to Nashville by way of Chattanooga.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newschannel5.com/news/amtrak-pitches-passenger-train-from-nashville-to-atlanta|title=Amtrak pitches passenger train from Nashville to Atlanta|date=January 17, 2020|website=WTVF|language=en|access-date=February 6, 2020}}</ref> Nashville launched a passenger commuter rail system called the Music City Star (now the [[WeGo Star]]) on September 18, 2006. The only currently operational leg of the system connects the city of Lebanon to downtown Nashville at the [[Nashville Riverfront station]]. Legs to Clarksville, Murfreesboro and Gallatin are currently in the feasibility study stage. The system plan includes seven legs connecting Nashville to surrounding suburbs. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page