GAINESVILLE - A man well-versed in passenger rail service in Georgia says Amtrak's threat to cancel service to Gainesville and the rest of Georgia is a "very serious threat."
Jim Dexter, editor of the Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers' newsletter, says Amtrak has threatened cutbacks before, but not to this extent.
"On some occasions, 1978, I believe, several trains went off," Dexter said. "Trains have gone off one or two at a time (before)."
Amtrak says it will eliminate overnight passenger train service nationwide unless it gets a Congressional allocation of one-point-two billion dollars for Fiscal Year 2003.
Dexter, appearing on this weekend's Northeast Georgia This Week on WDUN NEWS TALK 550, also said he is confident Georgia will have commuter rail service in the near future - and that it will succeed.
Lines connecting Atlanta with Macon, Athens, and Gainesville have been proposed, and, Jim Dexter says once up-and-running, that government officials will stick with them, noting that they've always been successful elsewhere.
"They've all gotten it up and running. They've seen how it works and there's no talk (in other parts of the country) of pulling the plug."
Friday
November 22nd, 2024
5:16PM
