44 replies to this topic

[Sloan]

 

 

City council set to vote on funding another commuter rail project

 

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thursday Austin City Council is set to make a major decision about a possible commuter rail line between Georgetown and San Antonio. The idea of the Lone Star Rail has been around for a decade, but city council will vote on funding that could determine if this project is able to move forward.

http://kxan.com/2014...r-rail-project/

[Sloan]

 

 

Commuter rail proposal connecting Austin, San Antonio gains momentum

SAN ANTONIO – A project to bring commuter rail line service connecting San Antonio and Austin gained speed Tuesday night.

The Lone Star Rail Line held it first public meeting in San Antonio to grow momentum for a project that could cut traffic on Interstate 35.

http://www.khou.com/...entum/22098441/

[Sloan]

 

 

EXCLUSIVE: Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail Group to Approach SA Council for Funding in September

 Expect the Lone Star Rail District's effort to build a commuter rail line up Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin to pick up steam in September, as the Districts makes a formal request to San Antonio City Council for funding to help get the long planned project up and running, News Radio 1200 WOAI has learned.

http://www.woai.com/...group-13775810/

[KevinKorell]

This comes from Randall O'Toole of the Cato Institute, so take it for what it's worth.

 

Lone Star Rail Insanity

 

Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin is congested, so obviously (to some people, at least) the solution is to run passenger trains between the two cities. Existing tracks are crowded with freight trains, so the Lone Star Rail District proposes to build a brand-new line for the freight trains and run passenger trains on the existing tracks

Continue

[KevinKorell]

Editorial in San Antonio, TX Express-News, 8/17/15:

Rail between Austin and S.A. would be game-changer

 

It’s been talked about for so long, it’s hard to believe rail between San Antonio and Austin will ever be real. But if you are a commuter, policymaker or a fiscal hawk, you should hope the region coalesces around the Lone Star Rail plan.

Entire editorial

[Sloan]

 

 

All Aboard: SA-Austin Commuter Train Effort Gains Momentum 

Anybody who has driven between San Antonio and Austin knows full well that between crazy drivers, accidents and traffic, chances are you end up wanting to pull your hair out.

Could all that soon come to an end?

Well, no. But odds are good that the experience could at least soon turn more pleasant.

http://www.sacurrent...ent?oid=2468447

[Sloan]

 

 

Lone Star Commuter Rail Project Public Input Meeting Set

 

(New Braunfels, Texas) — The City of New Braunfels is hosting a public input meeting on the proposed Lone Star Rail Commuter Rail Project on Wednesday, October 21st .

http://radionb.com/n...put-meeting-set

[Sloan]

 

 

Commuter rail plan sputters as Union Pacific ends negotiations

 

The dream of passenger rail between Georgetown and San Antonio, already a long shot because of lack of funding, was dealt a severe and possibly fatal blow this week when Union Pacific pulled out of negotiations for use of its track paralleling Interstate 35 through South and Central Texas.

http://www.mystatesm...ic-ends-/nqNxF/

[KevinKorell]

It does sound like a negative stumbling block, but not necessarily the end. Perhaps this was a ploy by UP to bring the Lone Star District to the table to negotiate further. It sounds to me that there is no way that UP and commuter trains are going to share the same set of tracks, so this of course drives costs up as there will need to be a dedicated right-of-way for commuter trains completely separate from freights, much like Salt Lake City's FrontRunner and the soon to open RTD commuter rail lines in the Denver area.

[KevinKorell]

KSAT-TV, ABC-12 in San Antonio, TX, 2/11/16:

Local leaders hope Lone Star rail line not dead

Union Pacific sent a letter to the Lone Star Rail District chairman on Tuesday terminating their nearly seven-year long agreement to work on feasibility studies for the Lone Star rail line. The plan would have run commuter trains on existing UP lines along with adding bypass freight rail lines between Taylor, Seguin and San Antonio.

That story