The primary purpose of the State Rail Plan is to serve as a statewide long-range rail planning document and to provide comprehensive railroad industry data. Georgia’s rail system is a vital component of Georgia’s thriving economy by safely connecting industries, ports and people. The plan enables the Department to implement a more efficient and effective approach to integrate passenger and freight rail elements into the state of Georgia's larger multi-modal transportation framework. It covers the time period from the present to the year 2040 for integration with the Georgia Statewide Transportation Plan (SWTP) and Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan (SSTP). Our extensive rail network supports our economy connecting Georgia and a global market. The potential growth for moving goods by rail in the state will be explored as part of the plan because of the ability of rail to carry more tons per route mile.