Rail at the Capitol? And pigs flew.

Looks like SB 1923 (establishing a funding source for the Rail Relocation Fund) passed onto the Senate. A truly pivotal time for Texas history. This is possibly the first time since the crazed city-to-railroad annexations of the late 1800's that Texas public policy has put forth public dollars for rail transportation. Please correct if I'm wrong. I can only pray this passes onto Rick Perry's desk.

Some notes on the bill:

- A Rail Relocation Advisory Board is to be established to direct TXDOT for the best use of funds

- The fund will receive a continuous revenue through a mix of sources including license plate and excess weight permit fees

- Funds only deposited if state highway spending increases in the current year from the year before.

- On January 1st, 2011, TXDOT must submit a list of rail relocation projects, financing information on each project, and the estimated completion dates to the State of Texas.

To be expected, the truck lobby testified against this bill, concluding this is a diversion of state highway dollars. But as we see above, the failsafe is provided if highway spending does not increase. Not to mention the decreased congestion will be inherently good for trucking with less wasted time and more fuel saved. But thats asking to much I suppose.

Potential Projects for Rail Relo discussed today.

- Austin-San Antonio UP

- Tower 55 - Fort Worth

- Houston US290 and US90 rail corridors

- Amarillo at-grade crossing

Amarillo, anyone!?