Georgia House Speaker Terry Coleman wants to sign a contract with Amtrak to jump-start the state's slow-moving plans to launch a commuter rail line to Middle Georgia.

Coleman and other House Democrats also plan to put $5 million in next year's state budget to provide operating costs for the rail line. The state Department of Transportation has $106 million on hand to buy rail cars and equipment and to upgrade tracks but needs a firm commitment from the state to fund the line's operations.

A majority of members of the House Democratic leadership team are based south of Atlanta and are eager to launch commuter-rail service from Atlanta to Macon as soon as possible. Coleman, who is from Eastman, has tried to bring passenger rail to Middle Georgia for years.

"We're trying to get the train to Macon as quickly as we can," Rep. Hinson Mosley, D-Jesup, told The Macon Telegraph.

In a Wednesday meeting with Democratic lawmakers, Amtrak executives and state transportation officials, Coleman expressed frustration with the DOT for moving too slowly on passenger rail, for limiting the scope of initial plans to Lovejoy in southern Clayton County and for ignoring the Legislature in the planning process.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has offered no response to a request for his commitment of up to $4 million a year for operating a rail line to Lovejoy.

Coleman says Amtrak would help speed the process of getting passenger-rail service started and help Georgia obtain federal funding.

"I trust Amtrak to tell us what we need to do," Coleman said. "Up to now, the negotiations (with Norfolk Southern) have been held in secret, and no one has ever told us anything or given us a long-range plan."

Norfolk Southern Corp. owns the two rail lines between Atlanta and Macon and has been negotiating to either lease or sell one of the lines to the state for passenger-rail service.

Coleman has the backing of numerous Democratic legislators from south of Atlanta who want the trains to go farther south than Lovejoy and to travel faster. The best way to do that, these lawmakers say, is to start running the trains all the way to Macon first, not Lovejoy.

"If the train is just to Lovejoy, it's seen as just another Atlanta project," said Rep. Tommy Smith, D-Alma, chairman of the House State Planning and Community Affairs Committee. "If you put Macon on the table, it generates a lot more interest in the Legislature."

Terms of a state contract with Amtrak have not yet been determined or disclosed.

Plans call for the trains to run about every half-hour and make the trip from Atlanta to Lovejoy in about 46 minutes. The trains probably would travel about 60 mph between Atlanta and Lovejoy, making stops in East Point, Forest Park, Morrow and Jonesboro.

Wednesday's discussion also touched on how much it would cost to upgrade the tracks so trains could travel 80 mph between Atlanta and Macon. Mallery said running trains at that speed could mean an additional $100 million in construction costs.