While several proposals for high-speed rail out of Atlanta have been shelved in recent history, the Obama administration's launch of a high-speed rail corridor study has renewed interest along the eastern seaboard. “There’s no doubt it has raised the consciousness and the amount of discussion that we are currently seeing around high-speed rail," said Catherine Ross, a professor at Georgia Tech's School of City and Regional Planning. "There’s no doubt about it. It was dead in the water before his initiative.”