August 7, 2025 - TRA Newswire -

Speaking before the Texas Transportation Commission's monthly meeting in Austin last week, Texas Rail Advocates President Peter LeCody urged transportation officials for "a rail vision, a statewide plan for intercity passenger rail corridor service."

LeCody urged the commissioners to form a committee or a working group on intercity passenger rail corridor options ahead of the 2027 state legislative session because "there will be senators and representatives asking what does TxDOT recommend. They are looking at you from across the street at the Capitol for your guidance. It's time for more than just a paragraph or two in planning documents."

LeCody thanked the commissioners and TxDOT staff for trying to ask for an increase in funding for the Heartland Flyer passenger rail service that runs daily from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City. "While you did ask for additional funding, Senate budget staff not only denied your exceptional item request, they actually cut the entire $3.5 million per year allocation." The long standing partnered service of TxDOT and Oklahoma’s DOT carried over 80,000 passengers last year and increased revenue that benefited both North Texas and Oklahoma.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments came through with emergency funding for the Flyer for one year in late July, preventing a shutdown of service. "The service will continue to operate but this is an interstate shared operation between Texas and Oklahoma and some how it’s got to be communicated to the folks across the street (at the Capitol) the importance of providing and promoting multi-modal transportation choices", said LeCody.

The legislative session saw several bills for corridor passenger rail  projects that were pre-filed before the regular start of the 2025 lawmakers' biannual gathering. While one bill for high-speed rail between Houston and Austin did not even get a hearing before the Senate Transportation Committee, a bill to create a comprehensive development agreement for high-speed passenger rail service in the I-35 corridor was heard and passed out of the House Transportation Committee. Unfortunately the clock ran out to bring the bill to the House floor and on to the Senate before the end of the current session. 

In past years, lawmakers had been reluctant to push any form of passenger rail bills forward without TxDOT outlining a vision or project plan. This was compounded by previous transportation agency executives telling Texas Rail Advocates that unless they were specifically asked by state legislators for passenger rail programs they were not going to push any projects forward. Hence, the hamster on the wheel getting nowhere fast.

During his comments LeCody thanked the commissioners and TxDOT for submitting exceptional items in their legislative appropriations request that helped impact rail issues/

"You asked for railroad grade-separation funding of $175 million and the legislature appropriated $250 million that will now, for the first time, start to solve safety and congestion problems at dangerous at-grade crossings, " said LeCody. "Thanks go to Senators Nichols and Alvarado and many coauthors and sponsors of this new grant program. You now have the opportunity to couple that $250 million with competitive federal rail grants to get a bigger bang for the buck."

The Transportation Commissioners and TxDOT executives were also praised for having the foresight to help short line railroad projects that resulted in passage of a grant program to help these first-mile, last-mile business generators. That was thanks to legislators Hughes, Paxton, Hinojosa and Hefner.

While there was no funding tied to the grant program passage, it now gives Class II and III railroads the opportunity to start planning for the next session and apply for important projects like track and bridge repairs that need to be completed. Short line railroads serve mostly rural customers and stimulate the economy in small towns and cities across the state.

It was a great effort for both grant programs to get over the finish line and a first for rail in Texas.

Photo credit: TxDOT, Greer Building Headquarters