44 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

From San Antonio Express-News, 9/6/03:

SAN MARCOS — A vision of passengers buying tickets to ride a San Antonio-to-Austin/Round Rock passenger train in 2009 was conjured up here Friday.

But if anyone knows there are miles and miles to go before that elusive image materializes, they are the members of the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District.

Here's the complete story.

[KevinKorell]

From KVUE-TV in Austin, TX, 11/9/09:

A commuter rail line stretching from Austin to San Antonio has taken another step forward.

The Lone Star Rail District -- formerly, the Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail District -- has been a long time in the making. Twelve years ago state lawmakers authorized the train service.

Story is here.

Very sad that the only train footage they had to show on the news story (seen in video clip) was a UP freight train. No they are not going to have "mixed" trains -- freights carrying passengers. They could have shot video of commuter rail in another city. Had Cap Metro and Veolia gotten the local Metrorail up and running by now they would have had commuter rail footage to show from right there in Austin.

[Sloan]

http://herald-zeitun...9c44110207bc44d

[KevinKorell]

From New Braunfels, TX Herald-Zeitung, 4/27/10:

Studies continue for Austin-SA commuter rail

The vision presented Monday night consisted of 12 trains carrying passengers back and forth from Austin and San Antonio each day. Along the way, the trains would stop in New Braunfels picking up commuters and dropping off tourists to shop and enjoy the scenery in New Braunfels.

Read here.

[Sloan]

http://www.statesman...-on-662077.html

[Sloan]

http://www.roundrock...a...asp?page=10

[Sloan]

http://www.kens5.com...-115682864.html

Although the headline refers to light rail, I believe this article is actually about LSTAR commuter rail. In this case I tend to give the media the benefit of the doubt on terminology. I suspect the reporter received information for the story from ill-informed sources.

Sloan

[KevinKorell]

Sloan, yes there's plenty of confusion here. Austin already has a rail line, a diesel commuter rail line that could be mistaken for diesel light rail. And, San Antonio itself has talked about light rail along some of its most frequent bus routes. It's a large city that I am sure would like to join its in-state sisters Houston and Dallas in the light rail game. Hopefully it will be understood that LSTAR is going to be commuter rail.

[Sloan]

http://www.statesman...ns-2061235.html

[KevinKorell]

Ouch, 7 more years before L-STAR can be a reality? And from this article they are not even sure yet if freight will be rerouted off the line leaving it to L-STAR and the Texas Eagle. But it sounds as though this will be done in Central Florida for SunRail (and in less time), so maybe there's hope for Texas. This line has potential since it connects the metropolitan areas of two major cities (like Trinity Railway Express, TRE, to the north). While not as large as Dallas and Fort Worth, they are still two large cities, and one of them is the state capital.