The Daily Rail - 5/13/09

• Bellmead says goodbye to the Historic Katy Railyard. 'The Crash at Crush'
  
• DART does it again. Dallas to DFW by rail: $120 Million Still Needed
• The Texas House is proposing a gas tax increase of 10 cents. The new revenue will pay not only for highway improvements, but for commuter rail within all major metropolitan areas. Would you vote for it?
• A light at the end of the tunnel!? Yet Austin's Red Line still doesn't have an opening date.
• Yowza! Falling demand and..Federal Charges? Texas' own BNSF has a frightful first quarter.

Capitol Metro's Red Line: What are they thinking!?

After hearing the continous drone by the media about Capitol Metro's new Red Line crossing arm malfunctions, serious FRA safety violations, and complaints about a skimpy morning and evening schedule, I decided to do some of my own investingating.

Heres Capitol Metro's proposed schedule for the Red Line: http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorail-schedule.shtml

Indeed. It appears Capitol Metro is going for the one-way morning and evening only schedule. The Altamont Express in Northern California is the best example of a limited rush-hour service that Capitol Metro is proposing http://www.acerail.com/schedules/train-schedule.htm

Several reasons why this doesnt work in Austin. The ACE uses high capacity FRA compliant commuter coaches. These provide way more passenger capacity than Capitol Metro's 2-strung Stadler cars. And easier implementation (aka, no FRA waviers). The ACE connects a string of suburban cities to San Jose, CA versus a the suburban to inner-urban areas around Austin. Travel will be continuous and through all directions within the City of Austin. Compare this to the one-way rush commute between San Jose and Stockton.

It seems the red line should match that of Sprinter service near San Diego....http://www.acerail.com/schedules/train-schedule.htm This rail service uses similar DMU rail cars to Capitol Metro, but an increased schedule allows for higher passenger capacity and more inner-urban travel. I fear Capitol Metro will have a massive morning and eveing overcrowding problem with a complete lack of mid-day service. This will deter any future users off the system.

Its sad to say, but in my opinion, the Leander line should of never been built. Continuous BRT with HOV would be sufficient for the US183 corridor. During the last 10 years, Capitol Metro should of focused on upgrading poor bus service, implemnting HOV lanes SOMEWHERE in Austin, preferably Mo-Pac Freeway or I-35, and planning Austin's portion of the ASA commuter rail. 

We'll see how this plays out.

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!?