Rome could be a stop on a high-speed passenger rail service between Atlanta and Chattanooga even if the Rome alignment fails to make the cut — although there are a lot of “ifs” along the way.

“If everything goes the way we’re hoping, it will still be near 2020 before we’re in operation,” said Mignon Allen, an outreach consultant for the Georgia Department of Transportation. “That’s why we’ve started now. The growth is coming fast, and the planning process is long.”

Passenger rail service through Rome is one of six potential routes the GDOT has chosen for further study.

The others would hit Interstate 75 farther south and continue straight to Chattanooga or run along tracks in the eastern parts of Bartow, Gordon, Whitfield and Catoosa counties.

Another four connecting segments, including a link between Rome and Interstate 75, also are in play. Click here for a link to more information, including maps of routes being studied.

“They all can be pretty much mixed and matched, until we get to the Tennessee line,” consultant Allen told a group of local stakeholders during a meeting in Rome on Wednesday. “That’s locked in because of the topography and neighborhoods.”

The session was aimed at getting input from traditionally under-represented groups such as the disabled, elderly and low-income. Informational open houses will be scheduled for the general public this fall.

The Rome connection

Rome has two pluses going for it: A transit system and expanses of undeveloped space reserved for utility lines.

Allen said a major thrust is to make high-speed rail part of a larger network that includes public ground transportation and the Atlanta and Chattanooga airports.

“And the Rome alignment uses utility corridors in rural areas,” Allen said. “There’s likely to be a lower impact if we go with a western route.”

Maia Santamaria of disAbility Link in Rome was among the attendees pulling for a Rome stop. But she noted the group is working on a plan for inter-county transit in Northwest Georgia — which could tie into alignments that would run through Cartersville and Calhoun.

“To have this possibility of transportation between Atlanta and Chattanooga is awesome,” Santamaria said. “Just make sure, wherever it ends up, you have space for regional systems to connect up.”

Allen said the GDOT also is weighing the use of magnetic levitation, or Maglev, trains and Very High Speed Rail electric trains. Maglevs would average 180 miles per hour while VHSRs would average 155 miles per hour in the 110-mile corridor.

Stations would have to be at least 30 miles apart, although officials expect even fewer stops to ensure the trip is faster than by car.

Philip Dillard, president of the Georgia Council of the Blind’s Rome chapter, said planners should keep in mind rail’s unique niche.

“If we’re going to have fast land transportation, it ought to furnish something air transportation does not: Stops that are not so far apart,” he said.

Years of study remain

Plans are for the state to pick a preferred route by mid-2009 and get it signed off by federal officials in early 2010.

Then the final proposal goes on the table to compete with Baltimore and Pittsburgh for funds earmarked for a more in-depth study.

Allen said the Atlanta to Chattanooga route is one segment of a bigger high-speed rail picture, although each segment is moving forward separately.