Pope Francis

I've had some free time on my hands, and the drawings below came from the ensuing daydreaming. I think someday, Columbia and cities of similar size in the US will have some kind of rail transit. When? Who knows. But it's fun to play around with the idea. I started the drawings below trying to be marginally realistic (have lines follow existing roads or existing rail lines). If Columbia got a transit system, I think most of it would be above ground light rail or trams, but maybe some downtown parts like under Gervais or Main St could be underground. I think something like this would be difficult to be successful without Columbia also building a commuter rail system to places like Camden, Newberry, Lexington, etc. Then commuters could actually get from distant places to their jobs downtown or football games. I imagine the large rail junction south of Blossom next to the Greek Village would be a natural place for a "Columbia Central Station" with Amtrak and commuter lines. Columbia has an extensive existing rail network. CSX and other rail companies would probably never sell these lines or allow passenger trains on them, but it is easy to see how the exising rail goes to the right places. Also, I'm not saying any of this is politically possible, that there's demand for it now, or that Midlands residents would ever choose to spend their taxes on transit, but in the future (who knows when) maybe this could happen. Either way, it's interesting to think about the possibilities.