Tenn. Code § 7-56-207
The authority is hereby authorized and empowered to condemn, in the name of the authority, any land, easements, or rights-of-way in the boundaries of the authority that, in the opinion of the board of directors, are necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this part; provided, that condemnation of any land, easements, or rights-of-way in which railroad lines are located shall be limited to such lines that are abandoned or proposed for abandonment by operating railroads in Tennessee as were contained in the previous provisions in Category I, 49 CFR 1121.20, as of 1983. Title to property so condemned shall be taken by and in the name of the authority, and the property shall thereafter be entrusted to the authority for the purposes of this chapter. Such condemnation proceedings shall be in accordance with title 29, chapters 16 and 17. Where title to any property sought to be condemned is defective, it shall be passed by the judgment or decree of the court. Where condemnation proceedings become necessary, the court in which any such proceedings are filed shall, upon application by the authority, and upon posting of a bond with the clerk of the court in such amount as the court may deem commensurate with the value of the property, order that a writ of possession shall issue immediately, or as soon and upon such terms as the court, in its discretion, may deem proper and just.
T.C.A. § 7-56-207