Sandy Mazza | Nashville Tennessean

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Bringing Amtrak train service back to Nashville seems, at best, a long shot.

But that's exactly what company representatives traveled to Nashville to discuss with state legislators on Tuesday afternoon.

Amtrak Senior Director of Government Affairs Ray Lang presented a plan for new Tennessee lines to Atlanta and Chicago during the House Transportation Committee's first meeting of the second half of the 111th General Assembly.

The government-owned passenger rail service hopes to add inter-city routes throughout the U.S. and especially in the booming southeast region.

Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Two of those proposed lines would connect Memphis to Chicago and Nashville to Atlanta with stops in Murfreesboro, Tullahoma and Chattanooga.

The only Amtrak stops in Tennessee are in Memphis and Newbern-Dyersburg. Nashville service halted in 1979 when the Floridian line from Chicago to Florida was shut down to save money.

But Nashville's fast-growing population has caught Amtrak's eye again.

"Our route map doesn't really reflect where the nation's population has shifted to – places like Nashville, Louisville, Columbus and Las Vegas that we don't serve at all," Lang told the committee. "We have to do something to change the Amtrak network. Otherwise we'll just wither away."

J.T. Phillips / The Tennessean

The expansion plan relies on additional federal funding Amtrak hopes Congress will approve in a revised Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.

Lang said Amtrak could present its vision to Congress as soon as the spring, once it has secured partnerships with interested states.

"It's going to take anywhere from 12 to 24 months to redo the surface-transportation bill," Lang said. "We think this presents us an opportunity to really transform the company."

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Gov. Bill Lee has also met with Amtrak representatives about the plan.

"We were intrigued by the idea," said Rep. Dan Howell, R-Georgetown, chair of the transportation committee. "I think it's a good window of opportunity for us. We're in the very preliminary stages, let me make that clear. But it is a window of opportunity."

The high capital costs of new train service have blocked past efforts to bring Amtrak back to Nashville.

Amtrak, which is a nickname for the National Railroad Passenger Corp., would need a new downtown station and upgraded railroad lines, among other costly additions.

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Amtrak train stations: History of 12 grand stations across the U.S.

The company operates at a loss, so states that have inter-city service cover those losses to have the long-distance passenger trains. Lang estimated that Tennessee could be on the hook for several million dollars a year if the plan comes to fruition.

Federal law allows Amtrak access to freight rail lines, but the costs for access are also high.

CSX Transportation operates most of the track needed for Amtrak's plans in Tennessee. A study is needed to understand the full price of new infrastructure and planning to add new capacity.

Introducing passenger trains to heavily used freight lines will be a complex, costly process, said CSX State Government and Community Affairs Vice President Jane Covington. The change could result in delays for the industries that rely on the tracks if the transition isn't managed well.

"I understand that Amtrak is here today simply to gauge the state's interest. This is the first we're seeing of this," Covington told the committee. "And I understand that you guys are hearing from your constituents about the crowded roads, and you're obviously looking for solutions to that. But we want to make sure you do it in a way to make sure it doesn't backfire and divert freight off the rails and onto the highways."