Imagine Downtown Atlanta as fulfilling its historic legacy as a hub for local, regional and intercity transit.
This is not just wishful thinking.
In the past month, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens shared his desire for Amtrak to move its Atlanta station from the Brookwood Station to Downtown Atlanta — preferably as part of the Centennial Yards development.
Dickens also expressed strong feelings that MARTA’s headquarters should be located next to its flagship Five Points MARTA Station, which is currently undergoing a $230 million renovation project.
Those two projects are part of the mayor’s vision to reinforce and reinvigorate Downtown Atlanta as the region’s center for transit.
“We would love an Amtrak station downtown, and it will be multimodal,” Mayor Dickens said in an exclusive interview with SaportaReport on Dec. 12. “If you could do it right, you could have Amtrak for commuter rail and MARTA for local rail. That would be just amazing.”
Remember, Atlanta was founded in 1837 because three rail lines came together in the area that’s now Centennial Yards, South Downtown and Underground Atlanta. Coincidentally, those three projects are now buzzing with development activity after decades of inactivity.
There is also real energy behind Atlanta getting a new Amtrak station. The current one is not easily accessible to people with disabilities, and it’s too small for a major metropolitan area like Atlanta.
The Atlanta Regional Commission is working on a study to recommend the best possible locations for a new Amtrak Station. That report is now expected to be presented to the ARC board in January.
“There’s been talk of a multimodal station in Atlanta, a Penn Station… a Grand Central Station,” Dickens said during the Dec. 2 Atlanta Design Roundtable. “We currently don’t have one.”
The mayor explained that there are two leading options for a new Amtrak Station – either at Centennial Yards or further north near the Georgia World Congress Center, given the existing Norfolk Southern track. As of now, Atlanta only has one intercity passenger train, the Amtrak Crescent, which travels between New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans.
“It would still need tremendous amount of infrastructure for the station itself,” the mayor continued, adding that he thinks the Centennial Yards location, which he described as phenomenal, would be better. “That’s going to be ground zero for just about everything that happens from a sports, entertainment, nightlife perspective. It is going to be top for visitors, top for residents.”
The city did work with Centennial Yards to set aside rail access and space for a station. But the decision will require negotiations with Norfolk Southern and Amtrak, which previously announced a desire to add more service out of Atlanta.
The mayor said there’s the potential of transit connectivity between Savannah and Atlanta as well as northern cities, including Nashville.
“This will be our chance to build a beautiful station from scratch,” said the mayor, who said it would complement the current efforts to rebuild the Five Points MARTA Station. “Imagine having a multi-modal access point. We can design, and it’s like a welcoming point for when you first get into Atlanta from wherever you’re coming from.”
Dickens, who also chairs the board of the Atlanta Regional Commission, said there are talks underway to advance a new Amtrak station.
“We have shared that vision, and now it’s just time for Amtrak” to make a decision on the route and the site for a station, the mayor said.
Two weeks later, the mayor reiterated his vision in an interview after the quarterly meeting of the Atlanta Committee for Progress, an influential advisory group of CEOs and civic leaders.
But the mayor combined the vision with the future of MARTA.
Dickens had just told the business and civic leaders how the city was encouraging everybody to take MARTA during the World Cup. He also told them how MARTA does not receive any operating funds from the State of Georgia. In fact, MARTA is the largest transit agency in the country that receives no operating support from the state.
Dickens said a “considerable number” of people in the room were surprised by that, saying: “Really? Wow!” For the mayor, it’s about planting seeds in the business community to support more transit — trains, buses and more stations — in the region.
The mayor also hopes to garner more support for MARTA from the state. He ruled out charging higher fares. Also, the City of Atlanta contributes more to MARTA than any other jurisdiction.
“So, the only other option is to go to the state and share how beneficial this would be to the whole region,” Dickens said. He added that now is a good time to start talking about it, given that the state legislature will be convening in January.
When asked about a potential new headquarters for MARTA, the mayor also didn’t mince words, saying: “We want MARTA to be downtown near the Five Points Station,” which is the most active station in the system.
“It makes sense. We’re looking forward to the day when it happens,” Dickens said. “We want a lot of transit agencies and organizations related to transportation to be downtown.”
MARTA is currently headquartered at the Lindbergh MARTA Station. According to several people familiar with the agency, MARTA has been considering options to move its headquarters.
Apparently, the option to move the transit agency to the Atlanta Financial Center is no longer being considered. Now, it appears MARTA will either stay put or move to Two Peachtree Center, which is located close to the Five Points MARTA Station and Underground Atlanta.
Egbert Perry, founder and CEO of the Integral Group, is one of the partners involved with redeveloping Two Peachtree at Five Points.
“Mayor Dickens has articulated a compelling and timely vision for reestablishing Five Points as the region’s transportation center, and we agree it is an idea worth pursuing,” Perry said in a statement. “We are committed to supporting his efforts and working constructively to help move that vision forward.”
Then Perry spoke specifically about Two Peachtree’s efforts to lure the MARTA headquarters back to the center city. “With respect to MARTA, we have advanced a serious, highly competitive proposal and are prepared to remain responsive as their priorities and requirements are clarified,” Perry said.
When asked, MARTA spokeswoman Stephany Fisher simply said: “MARTA is not pursuing the relocation of its headquarters at this time.”
MARTA Chair Jennifer Ide did not respond to a text message about the possible headquarters.
A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, said he has always been in favor of MARTA being headquartered Downtown, where it can keep a close eye on the Five Points MARTA Station.
“When have we not encouraged MARTA to be Downtown,” Robinson asked. “The Five Points Station is the brand of MARTA. If the station does not reflect well, then it doesn’t reflect well on MARTA.
Shaneel Lalani, owner of Underground Atlanta since 2020, said MARTA is key to the vibrancy of Underground, Downtown and Atlanta as a whole, given the city’s roots as a railroad hub.
“This is where MARTA’s trains still connect at Five Points,” Lalani said. “They need to be here.”
