Huntsville & Birmingham: Rail Study Gains Steam

0:00It's April 29th. This is Birmingham News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Last week, Huntsfield City Council approved a study for passenger rail lines connecting to Birmingham and beyond. The project costs $348,874 funded by the Huntsfield Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. It will explore routes not just to Birmingham, but also to Atlanta, Nashville, and Chattanooga. Birmingham officials are all in on the idea. Scott Tillman, their planning director, says solid studies like this make it easier to grab federal funding down the line. Meanwhile, Birmingham has run its own rail feasibility checks in the early 2010s, eyeing links to Atlanta and Montgomery. They're may or even push recently for high-speed rail to Atlanta. With Huntsfield stepping up, talks of a direct train between the two cities are picking up real steam, setting the states for future tracks.