Board Leader
Posted 17 February 2016 - 08:33 PM
Austin, TX Business Journal, 2/12/16:
Has regional passenger rail been derailed?
The plan for a commuter rail line connecting Austin and San Antonio may be derailed.
The San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday that Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) railroad has backed out of a 2010 agreement with the Lone Star Rail District to study passenger service along its rails between San Antonio and Georgetown.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
Board Leader
Posted 09 March 2016 - 06:38 PM
KEYE-TV, Channel 42 in Austin, TX, 3/4/16:
Lone Star Rail moving forward after Union Pacific drops out
The Lone Star Rail District is not throwing in the towel even though it lost a major partner.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
Member
Posted 16 March 2016 - 07:53 AM
http://communityimpa...-central-texas/Officials: Commuter rail project still on track in Central Texas
Rumors of Lone Star Rail District’s death have been greatly exaggerated, LSRD Rail Director Joe Black said.
Edited by KevinKorell, 16 March 2016 - 10:36 AM.
Board Leader
Posted 23 March 2016 - 02:18 AM
Lone Star rail dodges ‘kill shot’ but put under microscope
The rail district that has spent a decade and more than $26 million looking into a Georgetown to San Antonio commuter line, floundering after Union Pacific shut off the possibility of using its freight tracks, for now has survived one move to cut off critical funding.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
Member
Posted 25 March 2016 - 11:03 AM
Text and video here:Push to bring commuter trains to San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO - Highway congestion seems to be getting worse every day. That's why there's a new push to bring commuter trains to San Antonio.[/size]
Board Leader
Posted 16 April 2016 - 02:04 AM
Despite setbacks, Lone Star Rail Project still on the table
After numerous setbacks, the Lone Star Rail District board of directors says it still wants to move forward with the ongoing environmental study for the Lone Star Rail Project. The $2 billion Lone Star Rail Project has been in the planning stages for at least 10 years.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
Board Leader
Posted 17 April 2016 - 11:04 AM
Lone Star Rail in existential crisis after Union Pacific breakup
In for a penny, in for … another $6 million?
Actually, the Lone Star Rail District (and its federal, state and local funders) so far are in for more than 2.5 billion pennies (I’ll save you the math and the headache: $25 million). And after that kind of spending and more than a decade of study, it is hard to walk away from the dream of building a commuter rail line between the Austin and San Antonio metro areas.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
Board Leader
Posted 30 April 2016 - 12:55 AM
Future of San Antonio-Austin passenger rail could hinge on local planning group
Prompted by its Austin-area counterpart, the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is debating a decision that could determine the future of a proposed passenger train in the Interstate 35 corridor.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
Administrator
Posted 08 August 2016 - 08:08 PM
Austin (TX) American-Statesman, 8/6:
Lone Star Rail project faces possible extinction in Monday vote
Highlights
The future of the proposed Georgetown-to-San Antonio rail service is hazy after UP pulled out of the project.
The CAMPO staff now recommends ending environmental review and pulling Lone Star from a long-range plan.
Lone Star officials say $30 million spent since 2003 will have been wasted if the plug is pulled now.
The Lone Star Rail District, after 13 years, a shelf full of consultant reports and $30 million of spending that produced only flickering prospects for an actual passenger line, faces a life-or-death verdict Monday.
The 20-member board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, made up primarily of local elected officials, will consider a staff recommendation to remove the proposed Georgetown-to-San Antonio passenger line from its long-range transportation plan. The board will also consider asking the Texas Department of Transportation to halt the rail district’s spending and end an environmental review of the potential rail service.
Continue here.
Administrator
Posted 14 August 2016 - 01:01 PM
Austin (TX) American-Statesman, 8/11:
Opinion
Central Texas officials ousted Lone Star, but not commuter rail
In order to save commuter rail connecting Austin to San Antonio, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization had to destroy it.
That essentially is what the CAMPO board did this week when it voted 17-1 to initiate the end of the Lone Star Rail District’s rail line by removing it from CAMPO’s 25-year transportation plan. Two CAMPO members abstained.
SNIP
“Like many of my colleagues on the CAMPO board, I have lost faith in the ability of Lone Star Rail as an organization to spearhead this mission,” Eckhardt said. “I am committed to working with the Texas Department of Transportation and our partners in the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to complete the Environmental Impact Statement (for rail) and engage Union Pacific in partnership to effectively and efficiently move people and goods through the IH35 corridor.”
If a majority of CAMPO members are serious about creating mobility solutions that are right for the region, they should not drag their feet on rail.
More here.
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