Honestly, I’m not sure. I always got the vibe that Atlanta’s dreams about commuter rail have always been that: dreams.
It’s my impression that no one seriously thinks GDOT or MARTA would move in that direction in the first place in the near future. They finally established the ATL (I guess it’s like a more centralized version of GoTriangle?) and have a solid wish list, yeah, but it seems like they’re nowhere near the point where it can start talking about commuter rail. Plus, they don’t really even have a major site for a commuter rail station, and the only remotely practical candidate for redevelopment recently broke ground without ever mentioning transit integration.
Bringing this back up north to our stretch of 85: I think Owen is right, and Norfolk Southern needs to get back to the realms of reality. GoTriangle could guarantee timeslots for freight rail like San Diego’s North County Transit District will do with BNSF for a rail expansion there, for example, and I’m sure that’s not the only sensible avenue for compromise if NS can act reasonably for once.