A $700,000 study on setting up a 23-mile light rail system in Chattanooga will also take a look at resuming passenger train service to Atlanta and Nashville, officials said.
The work scope of the study says, "The study will also consider the feasibility of restoring passenger rail connections from Chattanooga to neighboring cities like Atlanta and Nashville effectively leveraging the investment in intracity rail in the city to further enhance accessibility.
"In close collaboration with rail cargo providers, the study will also analyze existing rail infrastructure capacity within the city to accommodate existing needs and future intracity rail passenger growth."
Chattanooga was once a major rail passenger hub with several depots, but rail service ended in the early 1970s.
The existing rail line from Chattanooga to Nashville and the two rail lines from Chattanooga to Atlanta are heavily used for freight.
The work scope discusses bringing light rail service from downtown to the Enterprise South Industrial Park and the Chattanooga Airport mainly using existing under-used track.
The consultants are to study where stations would be needed along the route, which likely would go from the Chattanooga Choo Choo to near the National Cemetery and Warner Park and through the old Missionary Ridge Tunnel now used only by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
CARTA is to oversee the project for the city of Chattanooga.
The work is to start March 1 with a consultant named by July 14. The study is to start Aug. 7 and be ready by May or June of 2016.