History
The MMPT will help build a foundation for Georgia’s transportation future while taking a page directly from its past.
Before Atlanta was even called Atlanta, the area served as a transportation hub built around rail service. In the 1830s, Georgia legislators sought to link coastal and western territories with northern cities such as Nashville, Louisville and Cincinnati. Proposals were brought forth and charters established to create a series of rail lines, including a line that would link the Chattahoochee River to the Tennessee River and connect to private branch lines.
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In 1837, surveyors determined that a location approximately seven miles southeast of the Chattahoochee River would serve as the zero milepost, the place where the Georgia Railroad with service from Augusta would meet the Western and Atlantic. The area came to be known as Terminus, and its role as a center of transportation was born.
By 1842, with a series of rail lines under development, the zero milepost was relocated about a quarter mile east. That same year, the area known as Terminus was renamed Marthasville in honor of Martha Atalanta Lumpkin, the daughter of Western & Atlantic officer Wilson Lumpkin, a former Georgia governor and U.S. senator.
With the city continuing to grow, Marthasville was officially renamed Atlanta in 1845. There are conflicting accounts of how the name came about, both of which are tied to railroad lore involving J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad. One telling has Thomson doctoring Martha Lumpkin's middle name, Atalanta. The other stems from the shortening of Atlantica-Pacifica, his proposed name for the city which served as the eastern terminus of an east-west rail line. By either account, the city was incorporated in 1847, with its limits measured one mile in each direction from the zero milepost.
In 1850, the year the 138-mile Western & Atlantic line was completed, a zero milepost marker was placed in Atlanta. The three-and-a-half foot tall stone marker, approximately one foot wide on each side, is engraved “W & A RR 138” on one side and “W & A RR 00” on another. The milepost, still standing today, is located under the Central Ave. viaduct inside a Georgia State University security building adjacent to Underground Atlanta.
As these growing rail lines continued to draw more rail traffic into Atlanta, two stations emerged to handle expanding passenger and freight needs. The site of the zero milepost became home to Union Station. Over time, the site would be home to three different versions of the station. The first Union Station was built in 1853 and destroyed by Federal troops nine years later. The reconstruction era brought the second version of the station, which opened in 1871. A third version of the station was built in 1930 and razed in 1972. Today, the site is largely covered by parking decks near Underground Atlanta. Still standing near the site, and serving as a reminder of the city’s rich rail history is the oldest building in Atlanta, the Georgia Freight Depot.
Atlanta’s other major station, Terminal Station, opened in 1905. The station, larger and more ornate than Union Station, was designed by architect P. Thornton Marye, whose firm designed Atlanta’s Fox Theater. This station, too, was razed in 1972. Today, the site of Terminal Station is home to the Richard B. Russell Federal Building.
There were multiple factors that led to the decline of rail service within Atlanta and the closing of its major stations. With the invention of the automobile and the eventual growth of the nation’s interstate system, both travelers and the transport of goods increasingly took to the roads. Air travel grew, providing quicker access to farther destinations. As a result, rail service took on some new looks.
In 1971, Amtrak was created. It was designed as a government-owned corporation providing intercity passenger rail service. Amtrak provided a means of bringing together passenger rail services of numerous private rail lines, whose services had dwindled, with the goal of creating a broad network under one service provider. In Atlanta, Amtrak operates Peachtree Station, which is commonly referred to as Brookwood Station. The station was built in 1908, and was designed to serve as a commuter stop for the Southern Railway which operated out of Terminal Station. Amtrak took over the line from Southern in 1979, and has operated the station since.
As Amtrak was created in 1971 to service the nation, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, or MARTA, was developed to service the metropolitan area. Originally formed as strictly a bus system, it quickly began advancing work on a heavy rail system as well. Construction began in 1975 and service was initiated in 1979. Since that time, the system has grown to 48 miles of track servicing 38 train stations.
Today, Atlanta remains home to multiple rail and bus services, and is experiencing a growth trend in transit use. The need for a centralized facility to bring these various services together is greater than ever.
It is at roughly the same site of the former Terminal Station and near MARTA’s Five Points Station that Atlanta looks to rekindle its past. The MMPT will bring together existing ground and rail services, while providing a foundation for establishing new services such as commuter rail, high-speed rail and streetcars. This is a project that has been contemplated for quite some time, with planning efforts initiated years ago. Now, through a public private partnership, the facility is likely to become part of a larger mixed use complex, and has the potential to become as iconic as Atlanta’s grand terminals of yesteryear.
Transportation Leaders Laud Beginning of MMPT
U.S. Respresentative John Lewis speaks at the MMPT commemoration ceremony
On October 31, 2011, U.S. Representative John Lewis and Mayor Kasim Reed joined the State Transportation Board (STB), other officials and private-sector partners in commemorating the signing of an agreement for the initial development of a Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal (MMPT) and commercial center in downtown Atlanta.
To be located in the long under-utilized “Gulch” area near Philips Arena, the Georgia Dome and World Congress Center, the MMPT will be developed for the Georgia Department of Transportation by Forest City/Cousins/Integral, a consortium of private firms.
Congressman John Lewis, a long-time supporter of the MMPT concept, said “it is a great day for Atlanta and the whole region. We have reached an important milestone in this development, and I look forward to returning in a few years for the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the MMPT.”
“The Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal will help transform how we move around our city and region,” said Mayor Kasim Reed. “The MMPT will serve as the focal point for many existing and future transit networks. It is an important part of the overall effort to improve and expand public transportation in metropolitan Atlanta, and it will help our region maintain its competitive edge."
State Transportation Board member Dana Lemon and Georgia DOT Commissioner Keith Golden are joined by U.S. Respresentative John Lewis, Mayor Kasim Reed and other state and local officials at the MMPT commemoration ceremony
“This is a moment I’ve worked towards since I joined the Transportation Board in 2003,” STB Intermodal Committee Chairperson Dana Lemon commented. “The MMPT underscores the Board’s commitment to practical transit solutions for Atlanta. This is our beginning and it will resonate and bear fruit throughout the Metro area for years to come.”
"We are very proud to be part of the team selected to develop this large transportation and commercial center in downtown Atlanta," said Emerick J. Corsi, Jr., president of Real Estate Asset Services for Forest City Enterprises. "Our development team, which includes Atlanta-based Cousins Properties, Inc., and The Integral Group, looks forward to working in a very effective public-private partnership with the Georgia Department of Transportation and other stakeholders."