"Mom, can we ride Metra?"
"We have Metra at home!"
Metra at home:

Not just because the original plan formed a star, but the Music City Star name was also of course a reference to the city's many country music stars. The plan included seven lines total, with the other lines terminating in Gallatin, Columbia, Murfreesboro, Dickson, Springfield, and Clarksville via Ashland City. When they launched the current corridor, they were armed with a $40 million budget ($63 million adjusted for inflation). The project was so constrained by budget that the agency modified old parking ticket machines, at $17,000 apiece, to serve as ticket vending machines, rather than spending $500,000 per machine for full-service ticketing. The corridor's population density is just 867 people per square mile, far lower than the 4,900 in Nassau County on Long Island, or the 2,800 in DuPage County, IL, both of which support strong regional rail networks! Take Martha Station, for example, it serves just 11 homes within a half-mile walk of the station! Or take Lebanon, the station is 0.6 miles from the town center, the only walkable area along the entire 32-mile corridor outside of Nashville. If a rider wants to take the train to Lebanon, parking at a station and then walking nearly 20 minutes to their final destination makes little sense. At that point, it’s simply more convenient to drive. Lack of pedestrian connectivity is an issue too. At Donelson station, for example, there is only one entrance on one side of the station. This means that a house directly next to the train station still requires a 0.6-mile walk just to reach the platform. Proximity means nothing if the station is inaccessible.

As you mentioned, you saw a bus serve the station. Of the six stations outside of Nashville, only two have bus connections, and both are served by the same bus route, the 6-Lebanon Pike, which just happens to run parallel to the train. This presents huge flaws...if said route runs more frequently than the train and serves the same stations, why would anyone take the train instead? And if the only way to access these stations is by car, why not just drive to the final destination instead of adding an unnecessary transfer?

Frequency, speed, owning your own ROW, ample connections, expansion, integration, strategic station placement, and building density are all keys to a great network. And Nashville deserves so much more.....not another Elon Musk tunnel. While TOD have recently been going up at LIRR stations, LIRR stations tend to be a ton of parking, and they get good ridership because quite simply, the LIRR is frequent, it's 24/7, it has different services because it expanded overtime and is faster than driving. Not to mention certain LIRR stations like Patchogue, Hicksville, and Mineola are bus hubs, and the MTA owns the tracks. The LIRR is the oldest railroad in the US still operating under its original name and charter, when it was chartered in 1834! The LIRR has a history to be proud of, and it doesn't take long to see why the LIRR has continued to be a commuter/regional rail giant, as a role model that has continued to evolve with the times.

If this existed from Memphis-Nashville-Knoxville, with separate lines for Murfreesboro/Chattanooga, things would be incredible.

I ride this almost everyday. I love it, been doing it for 10 years. You don’t realize the stress you accumulate driving in Nashville traffic! Long may it continue!

as a Murfreesboro commuter, it is CRIMINAL that we don’t have a rail line from boro to nash. I-24 is a commute that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies, and it’s only planned to get worse as the urban sprawl and gentrification of Davidson’s tri-county areas get worse.

Given how terrible Nashville traffic has become, they should really consider expanding the system in the future.

We really do need a line from Nashville to Clarksville.

As a Nashvillian, it's used heavily during the NFL season for Titan's games.

I really wish it would offer weekend and evening services.  I would be loads of fun the take the train into downtown on a Friday, stay in a fancy hotel, do something touristy, and then come home the next day.  If I did work downtown, I would ride it.  Traffic into Nashville on I-40 sucks.

I used to ride this into Downtown when I lived near a station partly because I was happy Nashville even had a train.

Built the system on the cheap. No EIS or major consultants raising up the the price up.

For some CRAZY reason, Middle Tennessee just does not want to have and support passenger rail service either for transportation like an airline or commute into the city.  If I could snag a seat on a passenger train coming out of Springfield TN, have a small breakfast, some coffee, and relax while I RODE into work, instead of dealing with the non driving Jacka$$&$ on the roads, I would dang sure do it

You drove through Nashville traffic? Welcome to HELL

I was sitting in front of you guys on the afternoon trip out of Riverfront Station. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing your passion for trains and logistics. 🙂

The train system isn’t perfect, but I am so thankful for it. For all its faults, it beats sitting in Nashville traffic at anytime by a long way.

I wish Nashville/TN would invest more in the rail system (and public transit, in general), but the powers-at-be clearly have no interest. My understanding is that any attempt to expand the rail system has been met with at best, lukewarm support, and at worst, apathy.

At any rate, enjoyed the video. Great production quality. 💯

I grew up near one of the stations. Used it only a handful of times unfortunately. The biggest problem for me was the terrible schedule. No service throughout the day and only a few departures in the morning and evening makes it almost unusable. If we had even 15 min departures during commuting times and 30 min departures throughout the day and weekends significantly more people would use it. It really is embarrassing that driving through horrible traffic is literally the ONLY option for most people in Nashville.

Nashville here.  I would like to add that there are shuttles downtown to take one from the train station to several downtown business areas.  I rode it to go downtown for the 4th of July concerts and celebration and my son-in-law rides it to go to the Titans football games.  You have to buy tickets in advance for special events.  They sell out early and it is packed.  I wish they had rides to downtown in the middle of the day and on non-event weekends.  It is so expensive to park in downtown Nashville.  We also need additional routes to Murfreesboro and Franklin because of the very heavy work traffic.  And a route from downtown to the airport would be well used.  Enjoyed your video.

I rode the Music City Star from day one weekdays for 6 years. I enjoyed not dealing with the afternoon rush hour traffic, saving on gas & wear & tear on my car. In addition I could relax & leave the stress of driving to them.  And I didn't have to worry about car accidents or the traffic mess they created.

I’ve been in Nashville my entire life (24 years) and never rode the train but I might have to after seeing this video

The downside of using this train to avoid driving is, you’re dropped off at the riverfront. And everything is uphill from there.

Yes I think Nashville has terrible planners when it comes to growth for a much needed rapid line in other areas of the Metro

I am a social worker and work with low income adults, most of which do not have vehicles. The biggest problem I hear is that once they get to Nashville there is not enough public transportation to get them to where they need to be. First they have to get to the train, so pay money for an uber, then take it to Nashville. Then they have to take buses that do not have drop offs where they need to be. Meaning they have to pay money for more transportation. Most of these people don’t even make enough to afford housing and food. As a Nashville native, public transportation has been an issue for decades.