ATLANTA — A new, modern rail hub station may be coming to Downtown Atlanta in the coming years. That is, if the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, also known as Amtrak, gets the money it needs to build it.
According to the company's annual report, it's seeking roughly $30 million for the 2025 fiscal year to support construction of a new intercity passenger rail hub station in Downtown Atlanta along with any necessary supporting infrastructure investments.
This is all part of what Amtrak calls the "Atlanta Hub" initiative. The annual report said that besides the new hub station, it would also include new trackage to separate passenger service from freight operations. It said that the proposed station could eventually connect the downtown area with different cities -- even outside of Georgia -- depending on corridor development and other federal investment.
Potential locations it mentions are Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Macon, Savannah; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; Memphis, Tennessee; Greenville, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama; Meridian, Mississippi; and New Orleans, Louisiana.
What's the purpose of the 'Atlanta Hub' initiative?
Amtrak said that its existing Atlanta station, which was built in 1918, was designed to accommodate only a small number of passengers. It said that it features an undersized waiting room, no parking, poor access to its single platform and a lack of connectivity to local transit options.
In its report, the company argues that a new station would improve the customer experience for passengers on its existing Crescent route, which links the city to New Orleans, Birmingham, Charlotte, Washington and New York City.
"Properly located and paired with congestion-relieving infrastructure improvements, a new station could also enable Atlanta to become a hub for intercity passenger trains connecting both major cities and small communities across the Southeast," the report read.
What would the money achieve?
The company also broke down how the 2025 fiscal year funding could help support this idea. According to the report, a $29.9 million appropriation for the hub could support the company in acquiring property and support actions that need to be done to get the project underway, such as preliminary engineering work and obtaining required project clearances. The company estimates it will need $700 million for the entire life of the initiative.
In general, the company relies upon annual appropriations from Congress in order to function and grow. This federal money is provided by grants: an NEC grant and a separate National Network (NN) grant. In total, for the entire 2025 fiscal year, Amtrak is requesting Congress to authorize $4 billion. It divides these requests into two main components: base needs, which is essentially the minimum money needed to carry out core functions and modernization to ensure long-term health.
A look into the city's focus on transportation
Although it has yet to be seen if Amtrak will get the necessary money to build the hub it desires in the city, previous history on this topic suggests it'd be a welcome attention for Atlantans.
For example, in 2022, Atlanta City Councilmember Jason Dozier spoke after a resolution was approved to emphasize support for developing a multi-modal transportation hub with Amtrak.
"We want to let our federal partners at Amtrak know that we want a passenger rail -- see an expansion of a passenger rail here in the City of Atlanta," Dozier said in 2022. "It's been so crucial to our story, our origin story, as a city. It's been so crucial to our past. And so it's essential to our past, and we're just trying to make sure that it's central to our future as well."
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also emphasized this point during his State of the City address in March by bringing up the creation of new Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) stations.
"A better, more accessible rail system is key to Atlanta’s future, and I am committed to ensuring that Atlanta residents have access to the quality transportation they deserve," Dickens stated in March.
Overall, according to Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner, the company is on track to increase its ridership to 66 million passengers annually by 2040. He also said it is already on the way to this marker, as ridership is projected to reach almost 35 million for the 2025 fiscal year.
"We strongly believe that intercity passenger rail can -- and must -- become a much bigger part of American mobility if we are to support a growing nation and keep pace with our global competitors," Gardner stated.
