Tennessee

There’s action on Tennessee cities getting passenger trains. Why is Knoxville left out?

Published

1 year ago

December 8, 2023

There’s action on Tennessee cities getting passenger trains. Why is Knoxville left out?

You may have seen headlines touting the possibility of a new passenger train connecting Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga to Atlanta. But what about Knoxville?

The Scruffy City is home to Tennessee’s third-largest city by population, according to census data. It outranks Chattanooga, our neighbor to the south that’s included in the new Amtrak expansion plan.

If you’re a Knoxvillian and playing the role of a jealous sibling left out of the mix, we’ve got answers.

Why is the Tennessee railway expansion coming up again?

It’s because U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis this week announced $500,000 in federal funding for analyzing the railway project’s scope.

“Once this service is in operation, much of the country will be accessible by rail from Memphis. This is a very big deal, and I look forward to working with stakeholders in all the route’s proposed cities to continue to move this project forward,” Cohen said.

The funds are the first step in a process that could take years, but it does go a long way toward bringing connectivity to the state. The next step is using funds to look at how much a railway connecting Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta will cost.

“This doesn’t happen without all four cities being involved and federal support,” said Chattanooga director of Intergovernmental and External Affairs Ellis Smith. “It’s about creating connectivity between these four cities.”

It’s a part of the expansion President Joe Biden announced in 2021. We knew back then that the $80 billion project would not include Knoxville, and it stings now that it’s closer to actually being built.

Physical limitations prevent a passenger rail in Knoxville

This isn’t a new conversation. Biden’s expansion was supposed to happen by 2035 and incorporate Nashville and Chattanooga, as well as Asheville, North Carolina.

The reason why the tracks route around Knoxville instead of through it? The East Tennessee terrain. It’s got mountains.

But weren’t there trains here before? Yes.

Portions of the old Central Tennessee Railway track that linked Nashville and Knoxville over the Cumberland Plateau were abandoned between 1980s and 1990s, which makes restoring direct service much more costly.

In all likelihood, a Knoxville-Nashville line would connect through Chattanooga, which means a longer trip by rail than by car. That’s a tough sell for the average American traveler.

David Clarke, retired director of the University of Tennessee Center for Transportation Research, told Knox News a few years ago that many of the existing tracks are curved and twisted due to the often extreme topography of the region, making high-speed service less feasible and practical. Local trains might be limited to between 60 and 80 miles an hour.

“It’s a pretty slow trip from Asheville to Knoxville by train because the train goes along the French Broad River,” said Clarke, “It’s like a little over an hour and a half by car. By train it’s probably more like two and a half hours.”

Building a stronger train system would be as expensive as when the federal government built the highway system. It’s a concept that’s a long way off, if ever even happens.

“Most people are only just starting to think about trains,” Clarke said.

Knoxville is not designated as a ‘hub’

In December 2022, the Tennessee Department of Transportation submitted a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration expressing interest a passenger rail and confirming a statewide study will be completed by July 2023.

That study resulted in the selection of Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga as identified corridors — or hubs, really — for future use.

And Knoxville didn’t make the cut. Or at least, the initial cut.

The study identified three tiers ranging in priority, with the first being the Memphis-Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta route. Tier 2 is a connecting line between Chattanooga to Knoxville to Bristol with the goal of eventually connecting Bristol deeper into Virginia and portions of the busy Northeast Regional Passenger rail corridor.

TDOT tiers for passenger railway recommendations:

Tier 1: Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta
Tier 2: Memphis-Nashville | Chattanooga-Knoxville-Bristol
Tier 3: Memphis-Carbondale, Illinois-Chicago | Nashville-Louisville, Kentucky

But that’s a long way away. One timeline in the state’s study projects 84 months in between feasibility assessments and passenger use. That’s seven years.

So Knoxville’s time could come, but it’s not likely within this decade. For now, our bigger (and in one case, smaller) counterparts have a better chance of getting passenger rail.

Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg.

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Tennessee

What Wake Forest said after losing to Tennessee baseball in regionals

Published

17 hours ago

June 3, 2025

Press Room

What Wake Forest said after losing to Tennessee baseball in regionals

Standing in the path of Tennessee baseball and a super regional appearance was Wake Forest.

The Vols won the regional game 11-5 to punch their ticket to supers.

Afterward, Demon Deacon coach Tom Walter met with the media. Here’s what he said.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Opening Statement…

“I would like to congratulate Tennessee on a game well played and advancing to the next round of the [tournament, the] Super Regional. What an incredible venue they have here and a great fan base. It’s been a pleasure playing here for the last four days. I’m proud of our guys and the way we battled. I hate that it’s over for our seniors and the guys we will lose to the draft, but I’m proud of the way we competed. Two great baseball teams gave it all today and we came up on the short end.”

On keeping Duncan Marsten in…

“I thought he was a good matchup for [him facing Manny] Marin. We had two outs and the nine-hole hitter up. I thought Marsten was the right matchup there. Probably should have had [Joe] Ariola ready for [Gavin] Kilen and then [Andrew] Fischer coming in behind him. There are two outs and it’s a 3-2 game if we get off the field right there. But give credit to Marin—he put a good swing on the ball and got it out of the ballpark.”

On his team having 16 strikeouts against Tennessee’s pitching…

“I think we [ended up with] more than that yesterday. Tennessee’s got power arms. The guys we saw today are guys who strike out a ton of hitters. We certainly needed to do a better job of putting more balls in play, but that’s easier said than done against those types of arms.”

On if they expected to see Liam Doyle…

“Yeah, we did expect that. We figured if they had the lead, they’d go to him and we knew we’d have our hands full. Coming back off that guy [on the short side] is not easy, you just try to get on time for his fastball. When he’s commanding it, like he did tonight, at the top of the zone, it’s darn near unhittable. Our guys battled, but they were just a little better than us tonight.”

On the early walks his team gave up…

“Griffin Green and Slim [Zach Johston] have not been great strike-throwers recently. We knew that was an issue, but the infield hit hurt us too. Slim made a good 3-2 pitch and we just got a little unfortunate there for getting out there. That changes that inning. When you give Tennessee, an offense like that, free 90s, they’re going to make you pay.”

On his conversations with players and retaining the roster…

“We certainly always have ongoing conversations about that stuff, but nothing official. Exit meetings will take place once we’re back on campus. We’re likely leaving tomorrow morning around 10 or 11 a.m. and should get back by mid to late afternoon. Some of those meetings may happen tomorrow night and into Wednesday. Within the next 48 hours, we should have a good sense of what our returning roster will look like.”

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Analyst Warns NFL of Titans’ Dangerous New Offensive Duo

Published

1 day ago

June 2, 2025

Press Room

Analyst Warns NFL of Titans’ Dangerous New Offensive Duo

The Tennessee Titans enter the 2025 NFL season with one glaring and major change on their quarterback roster, thanks to their selection of Cam Ward atop this offseason’s draft.

For a rookie signal caller like Ward, there can be a wide range of expectations for how things could pan out during his first year in the fold. There’s a world where he surges onto the scene as a day one star under center, or can face the ups and downs a young quarterback making a transition to the pros can often have.

Even for a number-one overall pick like Ward, league history has shown us examples of both ends of that spectrum being on the table, regardless of being that highly esteemed top prospect.

Yet, in the mind of NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks, he sees the glass as half-full for the Titans and their rookie quarterback –– not just for how Ward may fare in year one, but also how he’ll factor in alongside Titans head coach Brian Callahan.

Brooks recently broke down his picks for the top-five new quarterback-play-caller duos that NFL defenses should be most worried about for the season ahead, where the Titans’ pairing of Callahan and Ward landed right in that mix.

“The marriage between the No.1 overall pick and Joe Burrow’s former tutor should add some spice to the Titans’ 26th-ranked offense that lacked pizzazz and pop with Will Levis under center in 2024,” Brooks wrote. “With Ward bringing the talent, tools and tenacity that reminds me of a young Steve McNair, the Titans have a quarterback with the ‘alpha dawg’ persona to lead an eye-popping offensive transformation in Nashville. As a pinpoint passer with the capacity to drop dimes from various arm angles, the rookie should easily connect with Calvin Ridley, Van Jefferson and Tyler Lockett racing down the field on crossers and diagonal routes, which will enable the Titans to showcase their QB1’s elite arm talent and impeccable timing.”

“Moreover, Ward’s superb passing skills will allow Callahan to utilize more pages of his creative playbook to punish defenses for overloading the box to slow down Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears in the backfield. Considering how Ward orchestrated dramatic turnarounds at Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami, he could help Tennessee quickly become an offensive juggernaut in the AFC.”

It’s not to say Ward is on track to be the next Joe Burrow, but if Callahan can manage to unlock some similar shades of that immediate production out of his rookie quarterback in year one, that only means great things for this Titans offense.

Pairing Ward with an improved offensive line and a batch of new weapons compared to last season is certainly a nice help for how his rookie season could soon transpire. However, none of those offseason additions will have the chance to elevate the Titans’ rookie like Callahan can, set to be one of the most prominent voices in his ear for the foreseeable future, and one of the most critical people in the building to put him in a position to succeed.

If Callahan can put the pieces together to be the offensive guru he was once advertised as, this Titans offense could be a pleasant surprise for the year ahead.

Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

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Tennessee ‘a top team’ for David Gabriel Georges

Published

2 days ago

June 1, 2025

Press Room

Tennessee ‘a top team’ for David Gabriel Georges

Chattanooga Baylor running back David Gabriel Georges is one of the most coveted players in the country for 2027. He was back at Tennessee on Saturday and said the Vols remain a top option for him.

“For me, they are a top team,” Gabriel Georges said. “I mean, they were the first person to kind of offer me when I came here, and that’s meant a lot for me because they saw me before I had a chance to compete and everything.”

The Vols have invested in recruiting his family. They were with him yesterday for the first time on campus and he was able to show them what he liked about Tennessee.

“They’ve been talking with my uncle and my auntie a lot,” he said. “That’s something I like, because they include my family not just me. That’s pretty nice.”

So what impresses him about Rocky Top?

“It’s kind of everything — the stadium, the fans, the coaches — and it’s really nice to have this experience,” Gabriel Georges said. “Like I said, in Canada, it’s really different. We don’t have this much opportunity to see a university and have this much of an experience, so it was great.”

He spent a lot of time with the staff. He really likes running backs coach De’Rail Sims.

“He’s a really nice coach,” Gabriel Georges said of Sims. “He’s been really friendly and nice to be with, and I really feel like that’s a coach that can really teach me and make me learn more about football and about my position.”

And he also likes head coach Josh Heupel.

“Coach Heupel seems friendly. Actually, he went to Baylor and spoke to my head coach for Gabe (Osenda), Joakim (Dodson) and everything,” Gabriel Georges said about his former teammates.

“I had a chance to talk to him, and it’s not the first time I’ve seen him. He’s just a really nice guy, and it’s really nice to hang out with him.”

Gabriel Georges looks like he is already in a college weight room. He is well put together and says his hard work has paid off.

“I think where I got stronger is, really, physicality,” Gabriel Georges said. “And I think I learned that from Shekai, and he really helped me with that in the weight room. … I’ve gained, like, 20 pounds since I have been here, and that’s really helped me a lot to develop myself. And Shekai was a good example to follow.”

He plans on coming up for several games this fall with Osenda.

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