MMPT, 1999-2003

After falling dormant around the time of the Olympics, the MMPT reemerged at the end of the 1990s. The precipitating event seems to have been the terminal finding a place in a new planned Intermodal Program for Rail Passenger Service in Georgia. This program envisioned commuter rail lines (which had been discussed in the past) connecting Atlanta to Athens, Macon, and other cities. For the most part, the plans depended on using existing rail infrastructure, dominated now by two systems: CSX and Norfolk Southern.

Note the presence of the MMPT on this 2005 GDOT map. See credits at bottom.

In 2000, a planning team (called the Planning Management Team, PMT) reopened discussions of the MMPT, this time prioritizing joint development. The team secured Federal Transportation Administration approval for a new Environmental Impact Statement and over the next year and a half came up with a new design.[1] The PMT comprised members from GDOT, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), and the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority (GRPA). It was chaired by Sonny Deriso, vice chairman of the GRTA.[2]

Within a year, the PMT had pursued negotiations with Norfolk Southern to purchase right-of-ways and track rights to rails leading all the way to Savannah. Letters went back and forth outlining the state’s needs and the companies demands, but the point was clear that a large, regional passenger rail network was in the works.[3] The MMPT was an aspect of that plan. The PMT foresaw a terminal and two parking decks, for a full cost of over $300 million. They thought the commuter rail lines could be accommodated in a first phase terminal buildable for $25 million.[4]

Craig Lewis, NS, to Walter Deriso, GRTA, Georgia Archives.

In October 2002, the PMT held a series of meetings with large private developers, including John Portman and Associates, Hines, and Turner Properties. The spare notes from these meetings, collected in a folder in the Georgia Archives, point toward the fact that the MMPT had hit another snag. The notes, collected either by or for the GRTA’s executive director, have snippets such as “Need a re-development agency…Need politically savvy leader that will give investor confidence.”[5] Whether for lack of necessary institutional support or poor leadership, the MMPT fell once again into dormancy.

1991-1995	1999-2003
2011-2014	Failed MMPT?

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[1] “Georgia Rail Passenger Program Update,” in RCB 60160, MMPT Stakeholders Meeting, Tuesday, April 30, 2002 Folder, Georgia Archives.

[2] Kelly Simons, “Train options up for debate,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 9, 2000.

[3] See the collection of letters between Water Deriso of the GRTA and PMT and H. Craig Lewis, a Norfolk Southern Vice President (and a former U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania). At least four of these are held in RCB 60160, Georgia Archives.

[4] Atlanta to Chattanooga HSGT Study, Scopign Summary Report, February 2008, 7-8.

[5] “MMPT John Portman and Associates,” in RCB 60160, MMPT-Interviews Folder, Georgia Archives.