MARTA transforms retired train cars into artificial reefs off Georgia’s coast

ATLANTA — Two retired MARTA train cars made the journey to Georgia’s coast today to become a new habitat for sea life.

At sunrise, MARTA and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) loaded two 20-year-old MARTA cars onto large trucks and took them to Savannah.

“We chose these two cars due to some damage they sustained on the railyard,” MARTA Director of Sustainability Richard Thomas said.

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Once in Savannah, they’ll be loaded onto a barge and taken 23 miles east of Ossabawa Island, just south of Tybee Island.

And then heavy machinery will push them into the water.

“Our divers will go down and check the material - see where it landed,” Tyler Jones with DNR said.

Workers stripped the cars down to their bare shells and harvested them for spare parts.

All oil, grease, and solvents were removed from the cars to make them environmentally safe.

They’ll join an artificial reef that mimics some of the characteristics of a natural reef and attracts marine life.

“Then it will be ready for fishing and diving,” Thomas said.

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Also below the surface are Army tanks, barges, and New York City subway cars.

If you’re wondering whether the rail cars will shift around with the ocean current or during storms, it’s unlikely.

The cars weigh 55,000 pounds.

The DNR also monitors reefs to make sure coordinates are accurate, especially for boaters.

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