December 9, 2025 - TRA Newswire -

The top county administrator that encompasses Texas' capital city, Travis County Judge Andy Brown, wants to see traffic relief on the I-35 travel corridor between Austin and San Antonio and is leading the charge for regional rail service.

Judge Brown, along with Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, created the Texas Passenger Rail Advisory Committee (TPRAC) last year, to raise awareness of the need for intercity passenger rail service in the crowded interstate 35 traffic corridor. 

In his most recent post on Instagram, Brown pointed out how more Texans are riding trains and that a top priority for his office is to focus on establishing service between ABI (Austin Bergstrom Airport) and downtown San Antonio's Amtrak station by studying how Texas State Highway 130 could be utilized for rail service.

The Austin-San Antonio travel corridor is by far the heaviest used in the state, with the Texas Department of Transportation Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan showing that there are over 266,000 trips taken on a typical weekday between the Capitol City and the Alamo City.

Travis County Commissioners approved a $125,000 feasibility study in October for HNTB to look at possible routes along SH130 and Interstate 10.

A rail line would offset traffic on I-35, which county commissioners project will get worse with ongoing I-35 construction and with a continued population surge.

The current population of some 4.5 million between the Austin and San Antonio areas is expected to pop up to 7 million by 2030.

Meanwhile, the Texas Department of Transportation is conducting a feasibility study utilizing existing rail right-of-way between the cities and that report is due to be issued by the end of Spring 2026. 

 Judge Brown said its possible a rail line could be build on publicly-owned land before I-35 construction is completed in the next 7 to 8 years.

Brown's TPRAC committee will get an update next week on the SH130 study, hear from Brendon Wheeler with the North Central Texas Council of Governments on their rail activities, take questions and determine next steps. 

Judge Brown's Instagram post pointed out Amtrak's recently released statistics that showed ridership in 2025 was up on the three long-distance routes that the passenger rail service runs through Texas.

The two cities are only served by a single long-distance train, the Texas Eagle, that Amtrak runs daily between San Antonio and Chicago.

The Texas Eagle has a 7:00 am morning departure from San Antonio that stops in Austin on its way north, and an 6:30 pm evening departure from Austin that originated in Chicago and ends in San Antonio.

Because of the short 79 mile distance between the Capitol City and San Antonio there are no scheduled airline flights. Texans who have to choose between a few long-distance bus services that stop in Austin have to wait for their ride at street corners, out in the open.