(a) The Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations (TACIR) shall conduct a study and prepare a report on recommendations regarding the potential for passenger rail service linking the major cities in each of the grand divisions of the state.
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b)(1) The study and report must:
(A) Identify the alignment, condition, and ownership of tracks;(B) Define an integrated network for intercity rail travel;(C) Provide alternatives for intermodal connections between the affected airports and passenger rail services; and(D) Survey projects initiated over the past ten (10) years involving the initiation of new state-sponsored Amtrak intercity passenger rail.(2) In assembling the report, TACIR shall collect data from at least three (3) state departments of transportation that have successfully initiated or are in the process of initiating new Amtrak intercity passenger rail service.(3) Information to be assembled must include, but not be limited to, the stakeholders involved, the process by which the new service was negotiated among the stakeholders, all costs related to establishing the new service, ridership estimates, and other matters that will inform the general assembly on successful launching of the surveyed service. Applicable costs to be included must consist of operational feasibility studies, rights-of-way and property acquisitions, new and upgraded operations, passenger stations, equipment acquisition, and actual or anticipated operational and ongoing costs. Information concerning stakeholders shall not only include state departments of transportation, host railroads, and Amtrak, but also state-created entities tasked with sponsoring and managing the new Amtrak intercity passenger rail service.(c) All appropriate state departments and agencies shall provide assistance to TACIR in connection with the study required by subsection (a).(d) On or before July 1, 2023, TACIR shall report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, regarding the potential for passenger rail service and projects initiated over the past ten (10) years involving the initiation of new state-sponsored Amtrak intercity passenger rail to the chair of the transportation committee of the house of representatives, the chair of the transportation and safety committee of the senate, and the legislative librarian.
