September 24, 2024 - TRA Newswire -

A sizeable group of city, county and state officials rode on Monday's Texas Eagle from San Antonio to Austin and discussed what it will take to bring intercity passenger rail service to cities on the I-35 corridor.

Austin and San Antonio area officials were joined on the train by Emmanuel Loo, the state of Nuevo Leon Mexico's deputy secretary of economic development, and Javier Diaz Gonzalez, mayor-elect Saltillo, in Northern Mexico.

The monthly meeting of the Texas Passenger Rail Advisory Committee aboard the Texas Eagle was held to discuss plans for expanding train service along the vehicle-chocked I-35 travel corridor. We can't put more cars and trucks on I-35," according to Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai. "If we stay status quo, it'll be gridlock."

At a news conference in front of the Amtrak Austin train station after the train arrived, Judge Sakai  said “We need to come up with creative solutions for passengers who are looking for alternatives to using their vehicles to navigate the congested 80-mile stretch. I am also interested in investigating options for rail south to Laredo and into Mexico to alleviate pressure on I-35. I want to give our residents another way to access those areas while allowing regional and international visitors a rail option for reaching Bexar County,” according to Sakai.

Travis County Judge Andy Brown pointed out that passenger rail has been stymied in Texas because the state does not have a funding mechanism to take advantage of matching federal rail grants. "Texas has so far missed out on it's share of over $19 billion in federal funding because we don't have a state system in place to match those dollars," according to Judge Brown.

There are obsticles still to overcome in establishing intercity passenger rail service. Union Pacific Railroad owns the main line between the capitol and alamo cities with many local industries along the way dependant on local freight rail service. The busy main line might require major upgrades if UP wanted to participate in a public-private parternship, or acquring parallel land for additional tracks or developing an alternate route. 

Legislators also have to be convinced that with traffic on I-35 getting worse each year that state funding is necessary to offer transportation choices like train service.             

It was pointed out that the population of the corridor between Austin and San Antonio is expected to increase from the five million residents now to eight million by 2050. Judge Sakai said  "It’s Travis County. It's Hays County. It's Bexar County and all the local communities in between".

Judge Brown indicated that the Infrastructure bill passed by Congress designated $66 billion for passenger rail development across the country. Texas could be eligible for up to 80% federal funding as long as the state, city and/or county comes up with the remaining 20%. 

"By reallocating a small portion of our state budget surplus, we can modernize our transportation system," according to Judge Brown. The rail committee is counting on $300 million in kickstart funding from the legislature in 2025 to get the corridor started.

Melissa Cabello Havrda, chair of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization was aboard the train for the rail advisory committee meeting. "Seems like a really high price tag, but I think at the end of the day, it's going to really save us a lot of money as Texans," according to Havrda.