The Atlanta Regional Commission is exploring potential locations for a new passenger rail station in downtown Atlanta. Share your ideas to help shape the future of a passenger rail station in our region!

ARC and the City of Atlanta are exploring a potential relocation of the Atlanta Amtrak Station from its current location on Peachtree Street in Midtown to another site in downtown Atlanta. Relocating and modernizing the Atlanta Amtrak Station could create opportunities to improve customer service, ADA-accessibility, and multimodal connections for rail travelers. The relocated station would also serve as a signature local destination and gateway to the city for visitors while providing scalability for longer term service improvements between Atlanta and other cities. A new, modern station would improve the overall customer experience for passengers on Amtrak’s Crescent route, which links Atlanta to New Orleans, Birmingham, Charlotte, Washington, and New York City. Learn more about Atlanta's current station and recent passenger rail planning efforts by clicking here or visiting the History tab on this website.

We want to get your feedback on a potential new passenger rail station in Downtown Atlanta. Whether you're an experienced Amtrak rider, or have never used passenger rail before, your input will help shape the study and give the team crucial insight. Please be sure to check this engagement site often to see how you can stay involved in the process!

Peachtree Station in Midtown was built in 1918 as a suburban station designed to accommodate a small number of passengers. Nearby, downtown Atlanta previously hosted two additional passenger rail stations, Union and Terminal Stations; however, both were demolished in 1972, leaving Peachtree Station as Amtrak’s sole station in Atlanta. In the years since, Peachtree Station has become increasingly inadequate in accommodating passenger traffic at current and expected levels. Common critiques of the station include its waiting room size, lack of parking (both long and short-term), poor access to its single platform from the station building above, which poses a particular challenge for passengers with mobility challenges, and a lack of connectivity to local transit options.

The first feasibility study for identifying sites and designing stations for a new multimodal passenger terminal (MMPT) was completed by the Atlanta Regional Commission in 1992, with subsequent planning efforts occurring in the three decades since as both freight and passenger rail dynamics on the ground have shifted. The first plan identified sites near the former Union and Terminal Stations and included some of the previous stations' footprints. The second plan in 2001 included the same sites identified in the previous rendition with the inclusion of a bus terminal and mixed-use development around adjacent sites. Currently, these sites are undergoing mixed-use renovation. The third, most recent study was developed in 2012 and proposed three separate concepts that all included 80 bus bays, 5 rail platforms, street car platforms, car parking, taxi/shuttle drop-off areas, and active transportation infrastructure/amenities. These plans were unable to come to fruition because of inadequate right-of-way for accommodating passenger rail service in the selected sites.