Clifton Community Partnership

Five Questions article:
Five Questions for Emory Morsberger (Chairman, Georgia Brain Train Group)
May 29, 2008
Source: Community Partnership Update/March 2007

1. What is the Brain Train?

The Brain Train is a proposed commuter rail system that will run from Athens, Georgia to downtown Atlanta, on existing CSX rail and right-of-way lines. The rail system would connect the University of Georgia with other colleges and universities in metro Atlanta, including Emory, along its 72-mile route. It would generally run alongside the existing CSX right-of-way with minimal impact to neighboring areas.

We call it the Brain Train because it connects universities, but the real benefit is for all commuters who live and work near the 12 stops on the rail line.

2. Why did you get involved with the Brain Train?

About two years ago, I was trying to get home for my daughter’s birthday, and was stopped dead in traffic on I-85. I missed part of her party, which was a frustrating experience and one that happens daily to thousands of Atlantans. I started working on the Brain Train concept in order to provide commuting options and to get drivers off the roads.

3. How will the Brain Train impact the Clifton community?

The short answer is that it would move people in trains instead of cars. With an existing station on Emory’s campus just off Clifton Road, there are thousands of potential riders who work at Emory University, Emory University Hospital, The Emory Clinic, the CDC, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and other institutions all within a short walk of that station.

This rail line will provide a safe, dependable and environmentally friendly way of taking up to as many as 10,000 vehicles off the interstate and secondary roads each day.

There are several groups in your community that I see as likely riders: commuters to the Clifton community, especially those who live in Gwinnett County and beyond; members of the scientific and research communities who are working near Emory/CDC, Georgia Tech and UGA; students and professors who are studying and teaching at multiple universities; and local residents who need to get to Atlantic Station, downtown Atlanta, Northlake and other locations.

4. Who will run the commuter train service?

Possibly the state could hire another entity to run the service or CSX could be chosen since they run similar commuter services in other cities such as Miami and the southern suburbs of Washington, D.C.

5. What’s needed to make this project move forward?

We are hoping the state will allocate $10 million in funding to acquire property for stations, and we will explore federal funding as well as local, public and private funding options that are needed to begin the commuter service. Last month we sponsored a “Brain Train Day” at the Georgia Capitol so we’re gaining momentum. Visit www.georgiabraintrain.com for updates.