High speed rail is hardly a new concept. After all, bullet trains have been zipping across Europe and Asia for years.
But now The Southern High Speed Rail Commission is trying to convince cities throughout the Southeast to take advantage of a golden opportunity available through President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package.
A total of 13 billion dollars is available to make high speed rail here.
But bringing high speed rail to the Magic City is going to take much more than just those federal dollars. In fact, it's going to take a plan to get more people from point a to point b on the local level.
Last year the Birmingham City Council took the first step in making that happen by approving the development of an intermodal facility.
Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith says a similar development in his city generated 200 million dollars in development.
Smith adds that it's the kind of impact that other cities along the route should expect. "You're going to see a similar impact on city centers, that you saw of interstate development. You're going to see thriving living downtowns if cities are prepared."
But to secure the federal grant it'll take the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama working together and that means towns like Anniston and Tuscaloosa will also have to buy into the project.
Plus it'll take a commitment from state legislators to ensure the money needed to sustain the system is there after it's built.
Representative Greg Canfield says such a commitment will be hard to come by during the current session.
"It sounds like we would have to leverage 1.5 million dollars in order to gain access to an 80-percent match from the government. So the challenge now is, is this something that the state of alabama can afford today?"
