Supporters of a proposed 43-mile-long railroad line from Lucedale to Waynesboro say it would connect eastern Mississippi to ports in Pascagoula and Alabama.

Larry Harvey, director of the Wayne County Economic Development District, says an estimate for the cost of the railroad is $1.2 million per mile, or $51.6 million for the 43 miles of rail.

He says east Mississippi took an economic blow when a railroad in the area was removed in the 1980s.

A meeting to discuss the proposal is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College campus in Lucedale.

Harvey says the rail line is proposed to run along power company rights of way.