Meridian could benefit one day from a long-time desire, now under study, to re-establish a passenger train route from Ft. Worth, Texas, to Atlanta.

The plan is a priority of the Texas-based I-20 Corridor Council. The missing piece, however, is a 345-mile stretch of track between Marshall, Texas and Meridian.

The track is there, but the lion’s share of Amtrak trains run on existing host tracks, operated by freight railroad companies.

According to Richard Anderson, chairman of the I-20 Council, the service was discontinued more than 50 years ago.

“The concept is to have all three states pushing for this passenger rail service,” Anderson said. “It would benefit all three states — it would benefit the entire South.”

From Atlanta, one Amtrak route runs through Meridian to New Orleans. The route from Ft. Worth runs to Marshall and then northeast into Arkansas. The idea is to create a straight shot for passenger trains from Mississippi to Texas. Meridian passengers would benefit from the additional service west to Ft. Worth and points between. 

Anderson said capacity study is under way and should be completed soon.

“It depends on what the …study shows,” Anderson said. “… We hope that we can get people to sit down at the table.”

According to a fact sheet from the I-20 Council, a 2015 Amtrak feasibility study found that the connection would not require an annual operating subsidy from any of the three states. 

A one-time capital investment, however, will likely be required by the host railroads “to be paid by the states and/or federal government once the capacity study is completed and negotiations occur between Amtrak and host railroads,” according to the fact sheet.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said Amtrak is working with the I-20 Council on the idea.

“We’re taking this one step at a time and we’re exited at the prospect. There is a great group of people in east Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi,” he said.

“There’s a lot of demand for additional services around the country… Because people don’t like doing what I’m doing — talking while driving. They would much rather be talking to you from a train while riding.”

The Southern Rail Commission, which lists the I-20 project as its number-one priority route, is working to secure other projects including routes between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile and a Gulf Coast Passenger Rail service.

According to the website, SRC’s Mississippi Commissioner Knox Ross says, “We know that rail can help synergize our economies, make our cities more resilient in the face of natural disasters, provide residents with more transit options and drive new industrial investment.”