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High Performance Railroads: Interstate II for the 21st Century
800 Jaguar Lane * Dallas * Texas * 75226
www.TexasRailAdvocates.org
Our mission is to accelerate Texas's economic growth and enhance the quality of life enjoyed by its people by advancing the development of rail service to its full potential as a carrier of freight and passengers. |
Announcing: South Central Corridor Conference
The 2009 Conference will be January 15 & 16 at the Sheraton in downtown Dallas (formerly the Adams Mark). More info can be found at the 2009 Conference Web page! Be sure to mark your calendars!
By road, rail and air from Dallas to Austin
(June 14, 2008) Dallas - They went by air, by road and by rail. The Dallas Morning News sent four reporters on a trip from Dallas to Austin to see how long it takes, what hassles you have to go through and what a trip would cost. For comfort, the train was crowned king. For actual rail fare, it was cheap. For time, it was dead last.
Again, because of inaction by our state and federal legislators, we are stuck with few transportation choices in an era of rising costs and congestion. When will Austin and Washington wake up to developing a dynamic passenger and freight rail system for our citizens?
For more on Dallas Morning News writer Jake Batsell's trip on the Amtrak Texas Eagle, follow this link for the story and a video: www.dallasnews.com/video/index.html?nvid=254127
National Train Day Activities
National Train Day was held Saturday, May 10
John Radovich (TRA Pres.) and Harry Nichols work the TRA table at Union Station in Dallas.
May 6
May 7
May 10
Now the Southeast U.S. shows up Texas and the Southwest on high speed rail
While Texas and the Southwest wait patiently for development of the South Central High Speed Rail Corridor, the Federal Railroad Administration, a combination of Southern states from Virginia to Florida and other interested parties are moving ahead with an ambitious project called the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor. See how cooperation is paying off in improving the movement of goods and people through the Southeast U.S. www.sehsr.org
Increased Texas Rail Service
With Texans facing gridlock on the highways, “winglock” in the air, and an enhanced need for transportation options as another hurricane season develops, the Texas Association of Rail Passengers (TXARP) and the Texas Rail Advocates (TRA) detailed today how a recent proposal by the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) could expand and modernize passenger train travel in Texas and around the nation... <Link to Full Press Release>.
Two Texas Regional Council of Governments signed on for passenger rail service
"Today a tree has been planted." With those words Michael Morris, Transportation Director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments announced that a passenger rail pact was signed between the Dallas-Fort Worth multi-county regional government agency and the East Texas Council of Governments.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the recently restored Mineola, Texas Amtrak station on Wednesday, August 7 with 75 County judges, transportation officials, civic representatives and rail advocates present to what some of the officials called a historic document.
"Through this effort, we hope to be able to enhance the funding of transportation that affects not only this region, but also the North Central Texas region," said Chad Adams, Ellis County judge. "If (high speed rail) stopped at the county line or region, it would be ineffective." The councils now look for congressional support to support passenger train service and upgrading of freight rail goods movement between the Texas two regions and beyond.
South Central Corridor Garners Rail Industry Support
Two rail organizations have offered their support for the initial study of the South Central High Performance Rail Corridor. The Texas Shortline & Regional Railroad Association and the Texas Alliance of Rail Districts both issued letters that call for a study and upgrade to the rail corridor that runs through Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. In his letter, Steven P. George, President of the Texas Shortline and... [ see full article in the blog ]
TRA Conference Brochure on the South Central High Performance Rail Corridor
U.S. roads set freight volume record for ninth-consecutive year
More info on the TRA blog.
Rail Tax Credit
Sen. Trent Lott introduced the 25 percent tax credit bill. It is S-3742 and is the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Act. It offers railroads and shippers the tax credit to invest in rail infrastructure expansion. It is designed to: Create new track (double, triple and Quadruple track); add additional sidings and to extend existing sidings to handle 180 cars; Build new intermodal facilities; Encourage the implementation of new technologies (i.e., new signals etc.). Check out the Laurel Leader Call news article about Sen. Lott and this bill.
Case for the Corridor
The Case for the South Central High Performance Rail Corridor by Frederick Plous.
TxDOT Rail System Plan
Learn about TxDOT’s Texas Rail System Plan.
TRA to TXDOT: Create a Task Force for the South Central Rail Corridor and a Rail Division within TXDOT!
October 30, 2008 (Dallas) - In public comment given before the Texas Transportation Commission meeting in Dallas today, Texas Rail Advocates Executive Administrator Peter LeCody urged the Commissioners to implement a Task Force for development of the South Central Rail Corridor in the light of recently enacted federal legislation. TRA is also calling for the creation of a dedicated Rail Division within the Texas Department of Transportation so that it will be equipped to handle large scale rail projects in the future.
The text of LeCody's comments to the Commissioners follows:
Texas Rail Advocates is a non-profit organization educating the public and elected officials about the benefits of improved rail transportation in Texas and the Southwest. Our mission is to accelerate Texas's economic growth and enhance the quality of life enjoyed by its people by advancing the development of rail service to its full potential as a carrier of freight and passengers.
With the passage of HR2095 The Railroad Safety Enhancement Act, signed into law on October 16, 2008 by President Bush, a new era for passenger and freight rail development has begun for Texas. Language in the Act calls for development of the South Central and Gulf Coast Rail Corridors, which have been designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as key rail transportation corridors in the country. The South Central Rail Corridor connects the social and economic spine of Texas with Oklahoma and Arkansas while the Gulf Coast Rail Corridor connects Houston and Southeast Texas easterly to New Orleans. There are provisions in the act for an 80% federal / 20% state match for rail corridor development. Texas will be competing with other rail corridors around the country for future funding. Therefore, Texas Rail Advocates urges the commission to establish a Task Force to develop a Corridor Development Action and Implementation Plan.
In order to meet the transportation challenges of tomorrow, Texas Rail Advocates also calls for the commission to establish a Rail Division within TxDOT, as other states have done, including Oklahoma and New Mexico. A Rail Division would be responsible for coordinating future higher speed passenger and freight rail development, safety initiatives, industrial access to rail services to help ensure that companies have the railroad tracks needed to transport freight and materials, track and station improvements, corridor preservation and responsibility for state safety oversight of transit agencies with rail-fixed guideway systems; including street cars and trolleys operated by other government bodies. A Rail Division could also coordinate projects from the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Railroad Administration to maximize any available federal funding. And a dedicated Rail Division would serve as the TxDOT liaison with private and public sector rail operators, rail shippers, communities and other stakeholders.
Passenger and freight rail will play a larger role in Texas' transportation future. Let's get there by laying the roundwork now. A Task Force for the Corridors now and a Rail Division for TxDOT sooner rather than later.
Next TRA Board Meeting
The next TRA Board Meeting will be held November 5th, 6:30pm, at the Meadow's Foundation's Center for Community Cooperation at 2900 Live Oak Street near downtown Dallas. You can find more information on this facility at <www.cccdfw.org>.
TRA Board Meetings are open. All members are encouraged to attend and participate. If you're not a member, please join us! Membership is free (but donationas are appreciated).
Future Meeting Date: December 3.
Rail MOU
In the spirit of the 139th anniversary of the joining together east and west of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, there took place an historic signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding on May 10th bringing together East Texas and North Central Texas Council of Governments with Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments.
Information on this historic event can be found at:
www.eastxcc.com/national_train_day
National Train Day
On May 10, 2008, Texas Rail Advocates joined with the Texas Association of Rail Passengers, the National Association of Railroad Passengers and Amtrak in celebrating the first annual National Train Day at stations across the country. This was the 139th anniversary of the laying in 1869 of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, which completed America’s first transcontinental railroad and joined the East with the West. www.NationalTrainDay.Com
Amtrak is used National Train Day to highlight the growing popularity of trains as convenient, energy efficient, environmentally sound ways to travel. National Train Day spokesman is TV personality Al Roker. NARP, its members and state advocacy organizations will use the opportunity to promote NARP’s Grow Trains Campaign and Vision Plan and to call on policy makers to renew their commitment to expanding the nation’s passenger train network.
Trains on Display at Union Station
in Dallas for National Train Day
This year’s festivities came at a time when sticker shock at the gas pump is creating greater public interest in more passenger train service and increased use of freight trains as an efficient shipping mode. What’s more, this interest was well established even before the current rise in gasoline prices, as reflected in polls, referenda, and ridership data on train systems across the country all point to one clear conclusion and that is we need more trains.
Texas Rail Advocates notes with pride the strides that have been made in both freight and passenger train service in the state, but much more is still to be accomplished in moving both people and goods throughout Texas.
Amtrak sponsored major events in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, and New York City. Political leaders are organizing events in several cities. NARP and local advocacy groups are also organizing events. All events were on Saturday, May 10, 2008 at the respective cities' Amtrak stations unless otherwise noted.
Federal Funding for High Speed Rail between Dallas and East Texas
Dallas - February 2, 2008
Celia Boswell, Chair of the East Texas Corridor Council, announced today that Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison will make available $455,000 in federal funding to conduct an initial study for higher speed passenger rail service between the DFW area and East Texas.
This is the first real funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation rail corridor since it was established in 2000. The funds will be directed to the Texas Department of Transportation to conduct the feasibility and engineering study between Fort Worth-Dallas and points east including Terrell, Mineola, Longview, Marshall and Texarkana. The announcement came at a joint meeting of the National Association of Railroad Passengers and the Texas Association of Rail Passengers, meeting in Dallas.
Supporters hope that an extension of the corridor between East Texas and Shreveport could occur in the future. Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson said that East Texas agencies are working with the North Louisiana Council of Governments to develop ideas. Up to 70% of the traffic to casinos across the Louisiana border comes from Texas. A direct rail link from the Dallas-Fort Wprth area would move some road traffic from Interstate 20 in East Texas and onto higher speed trains.
The South Central High Speed Rail Corridor, when developed, could see passenger rail service of 90-110 miles per hour and faster movement of goods by freight trains that now must operate on a single track through most of the state. Other corridors in the U.S. are already under development or in service, but the Texas-Arkansas-Oklahoma corridor has seen little movement until now.
Amtrak President at Transportation Summit
Irving, Texas (August 8) – Amtrak President Alex Kummant, speaking before an audience at the 10th annual Transportation Summit in Irving, Texas said that passenger rail corridors need to be developed throughout the country to run at speeds of 80 to 100 miles per hour. Kummant said to be economically reasonable and feasible we need to look at passenger trains that can run in corridors from 100 to 500 miles in length and make incremental improvements to improve performance up to 100 miles per hour. “We have seen dramatic growth in these corridors around the country. The demand is there”, he said. “We see 7% growth year after year in Intercity rail travel”.
Kummant said that Amtrak badly needs the reauthorization bill now before Congress to be passed so the passenger rail system can plan for capital improvements in the future. “It’s hard to plan past a one year horizon without the reauthorization. We need a multi-year funding stream”. He said that at present half of Amtrak’s income comes from passenger revenue and the other half from government funding. He indicated that both revenue and passenger counts have been rising.
The Amtrak president said that the freight railroads on which Amtrak is a “guest” need a lot more capacity in the future but are stymied by lack of capital. “The question is… can we marry freight and higher speed passenger rail service together? I would say the answer is yes”, he said. “We need to join with the freights and find ways to bring public money in to work together so both the railroads and the public will benefit.” Concerning on time performance, Kummant indicated that OTP was higher in the North East Corridor but lower where Amtrak must travel over freight railroads and that needs to improve.
Kummant said that Amtrak is working toward becoming carbon neutral in the future. The cost of going green would add about $1 to $2 cost per passenger ticket, he said.
Press release by the National Association of Rail Passengers
3rd Annual South Central High Performance Rail Corridor Conference
Our conference was held January 25-26, 2007, at the DFW International Airport Hyatt Regency Hotel. Click for a wrapup of the conference including presentatio materials and video streaming.
Tower 55
The Dallas Morning News posted an article entitled "Tower 55 ties up trains, economy, officials say" on December 22, 2006, in the metro section.
New York spending $60M for rail
The State of New York is providing $60M to improve rail infrastracture improvements. More in the blog.
Amtrak Chairman calls for passenger Service in Texas
AMTRAK Chairman David Laney, speaking in Austin on Friday, pointed out that both Florida and Texas are poised for explosive population growth in the next 30 years and that without a serious commitment for commercial rail growth, it is unacceptable from a transportation point of view. (continued)
TXDOT joins ODOT to help the Heartland Flyer
Story on the Paul's Valley Daily Democrat.
Amtrak Warning to UP
William Crosbie, Sr. Vice President of Operations of Amtrak sent the Union Pacific Railroad Company a stern warning letter dated August 4, 2006, regarding chronic unacceptable performance on UP lines.
