Rail on a Budget: Nashville's Music City Star

[Metro Jacksonville]

Rail on a Budget: Nashville's Music City Star



With a total construction cost of $41 million, Nashville's 32 mile Music City Star is the most cost effective commuter rail start-up in the nation.  

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/588

[willydenn]

I like where your heads at with the "no frills approach."  It makes alot of sense with the mayor's impending budget "crisis."

[archiphreak]

The apt word that comes to mind is....DUH.  Nuf said.

[Steve]

Actually, you want to know exactly how much those Chicago Metra railcars were purchased for?  Anyone have a guess?

[Jason]

The were free right?

[Ocklawaha]

The East - West route of the Nashville and Eastern (former Tennessee Central) was not even their first choice or heaviest corridor. The City first approached CSX with a proposal to use their North - South (coal) mainline. The traffic on CSX plus the extra costs of laying 2nd and 3rd track was much higher. Nashville planner were discouraged when Nashville and Eastern came along and said, "Such a deal..." They got 20+ miles of used and abused former TC mainline rebuilt to passenger train standards and the City got it's starter rail.

Could "such a deal" be had with CSX in the yard limits of Springfield - Airport? Would First Coast Railroad (Nassau County line - Fernandina Beach) be attracted to make us an offer we can't refuse? What about the FEC? Jacksonville has many more railroad options then Nashville, San Diego, Tampa, Orlando or Miami. What we don't have is a creative Rail transit agency, beyond any "Authority" of JTA. We need a TRANSIT AUTHORITY that does TRANSIT, and let our Transportation Authority, do highways.

Ocklawaha

[thelakelander]

Actually, you want to know exactly how much those Chicago Metra railcars were purchased for?  Anyone have a guess?

$1 Dollar a piece!

By far the most bargain-priced aspect of Nashville's rail starter line project has been the rolling stock â€" 11 bi-level coaches obtained from Chicago's Metra regional passenger rail agency for $1.00 (yes, that's one dollar) apiece. These are high-floor cars, currently being adapted for (internal) ADA compliance. Platform access for mobility-impaired passengers into the car will be provided by pedestal or "mini-high-block" platforms. Each train will consist of two or three passenger cars, each coach seating about 155 passengers. Push-pull operation will be powered by several ex-Amtrak E-8 units (although how many is currently unclear), costing $200,000 each.

[Nashville City Paper, 7 January 2005; Greater Nashville Regional Council, 21 Jan. 2004; WBRY, 18 March 2002; photo: N. Long]

http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_nsh_2005-01.htm

[thelakelander]

more info on Nashville's bare bones starter rail.

More and more US cities are finding various forms of regional passenger rail â€" so-called "commuter rail â€" a viable option, under the right circumstances, for introducing rail transit service on a relatively low budget ... and Nashville, Tennessee is a case in point. Beginning this past November, workers started re-laying about 80,000 feet of track as part of the rehabilitation and infrastructure improvements needed to implement a 32-mile, Nashville-to-Lebanon "commuter rail" line. More trackwork is expected to take place within the next two months.
[WKRN-TV, 2004/11/04; Nashville City Paper, 7 January 2005]

While, as a "heavy" intercity-type railroad project, this is certainly not "light rail", the Nashville project does suggest what can be done on a tight budget with a "can-do" attitude and a determined approach to minimizing design and containing costs. At a budgeted cost of $39 million for the 32-mile line, including infrastructure rehab, stations, maintenance facilities, and rolling stock (including minor renovation), this rail project is about as bare-bones as they come (about $1.2 million per mile), and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is taking pains to keep costs contained. Known officially as the East Corridor Alignment (it heads almost due east from Nashville), it's a single-track line (with a passing siding at one station), owned by the Nashville and Eastern Railroad Authority, that will share operation with freight trains. The project includes track rehab with 110-lb rail; installation of 6 very rudimentary stations; and sharing of a maintenance facility with the current freight operator. (See map below.)

[Greater Nashville Regional Council, 21 Jan. 2004; map: RTA]

http://www.lightrailnow.org/news/n_nsh_2005-01.htm

[Ocklawaha]

Push-pull operation will be powered by several ex-Amtrak E-8 units

This is weird, how old is this piece Ennis? The E-A - E-9 diesels were retired in the 1970's, most have been long since scrapped. They are beautiful, but old, road warriors. I see in the photos, they have ex-Amtrak F-40's, a much newer and super good locomotive. If they really do come up with "E" units, they will create a sensation in the Railroad world, and an instant tourist attraction. The down side is the performance won't be up to the F-40's standards. Another trick is using the "E's" as a control car on the push end of the train. Thus all that comes into play is the engineers controls and not the prime mover (engine). Long Island uses several old locomotives that have been gutted of engine and generators for control cars.

Ocklawaha

[thelakelander]

The images were taken within the last year.  The Nashville system opened last September.

[Jason]

How much development can be attributed to the line?

[reednavy]

NONE, my hometown is Murfreesboro, and it's between us and Gallatin for the next leg of the railline, which probably won't happen until around 2010. Wilson County, the first leg, now has the longest commute of the whole Nashville-Murfreesboro MSA, they use I-40. Outside of Nashville, Franklin, and Murfreesboro, no other communities have their own public transportation system. The good thing is, as stated, this whole system will use tracks already in place by CSX. The Nashville-Lebanon leg uses a local Nashville to Lebanon rail line, if I remember correctly, called Nashville & Eastern. Unfortunately, the "eastern" leg only met its 1st year goal of around half. The 2 counties that would actually have success are Rutherford(Murfreesboro), and the Williamson(Franklin) legs, which are the 2nd and 3rd most populated counties in the MSA respectively, with a possible extension from Franklin to Columbia.

[thelakelander]

How much development can be attributed to the line?

It appears that this development, located in the suburbs will be the first:

Wilson officials hope train riders stay to shop, eat, live

Lebanon project tries to create destination

8/01/07

By KATE HOWARD
Staff Writer

LEBANON â€" The time passengers generally spend at the Music City Star train stations â€" a couple of benches and a platform â€" is about as long as it takes to get from the train to their cars.

But city officials in Wilson County hope to give train riders a reason to hang around with a mix of retail, restaurants and dense housing that would put the Music City Star at the center of a destination in itself.

"All it will take is one transit-oriented development and you would at least quadruple the ridership on the Music City Star," said T.K. Davis, design director at the Nashville Civic Design Center.

While ridership on the Music City Star isn't likely to reach its goal of 1,500 daily riders by its one-year anniversary next month, officials say the customer base is steadily growing. An average of 634 trips were taken on the Music City Star in June and July, Project Manager Allyson Shumate said.

"We'd like to see something with higher-density housing that's closer, as well as grocery stores, retail, restaurants and things that go a long way toward supporting the residential area," Shumate said.

The transit-oriented development concept has taken hold in places such as Portland, Ore., and the suburbs of Washington, D.C., where homes and restaurants near the trains are meant to encourage walking or using public transit.

With plenty of open space and a nearby mill complex, the areas around the Music City Star stations are considered ripe for change.

Mill project holds hope

In Lebanon, a French cafe and wine bar is set to open within a few weeks inside The Mill at Lebanon, a mill-turned-commercial-complex that's within walking distance of the train. The building is designed to accommodate a hotel and spa, lofts, restaurants and commercial kitchens, said Diane Parness, spokeswoman for The Mill at Lebanon. A bicycle rental shop and ice cream store are planned for an outdoor plaza, she said.

The development could be a good introduction of higher-density development for Lebanon residents, Planning Director Magi Tilton said.

"When you have a rural county where large tracts of land are still farmed, people can be a little wary of density," Tilton said. "This is still a concept we're trying to get our hands around."

An elementary school once stood in a now-empty lot across East Division Street from the Mt. Juliet transit station. There are no buyers on the county-owned land, but city officials have rezoned it for development as a commercial town center.

"Imagine the heart of the city with food, foot traffic, shops with loft-style apartments above them," said Kenneth Martin, economic development liaison for the city of Mt. Juliet. "The train won't do anything but help that."

Plans include riverfront

If plans to improve the Nashville riverfront near the train station pan out, Davis of the civic design center said, there could be plenty of reasons to stick close to each of the east corridor train stations.

"If it happens, it's what's you dream for," he said. "You get the transit line put in, which in turn helps structure compact and relatively dense growth for the region."

Occasional train rider Dave Miller, of Nashville, said he would enjoy the experience a lot more if there were at least a place to get a quick cup of coffee near the station.

"With the proposed development and improvements to the riverside location down there, you would at least think that they would encourage folks to take the trip to Nashville and make the place more inviting," Miller said.

Growth along public transportation routes also is part of the new strategy Cumberland Region Tomorrow is pushing. The nonprofit planning group sees developing along existing infrastructure â€" highways and public transportation â€" as key to keeping transportation options available.

"Looking at opportunities in downtown Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and other points, we can frame the development in a way that it's designed to support the transit," said Executive Director Bridget Jones. "Any time a community or region limits mobility to one mode, one type of infrastructure, what else are we supposed to do?"

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070801/NEWS09/708010420/1026/NEWS

[thelakelander]

This looks like an interesting development....I can imagine one of the older vacant brick warehouses in the Mrytle Street area or Springfield Warehouse District, being converted into something like this, if the S-Line is used as a part of a mass transit system.



Nestled at creek's edge, The Mill at Lebanon will soon be Middle Tennessee's favorite destination for shopping, dining, one-of-a-kind events and big-city loft living in a country setting. Join us as we unfold a new layer in The Mill's rich heritage.


website: http://www.themillatlebanon.com/

[RiversideGator]

I think this sort of regional commuter rail puts the cart before the horse.  I think it would be best to start with local light rail and then tie into this the commuter rail system out into the hinterlands.