Austin-San Antonio Rail Project May Get Federal Funds

[TexasTowelie]

Officials in Austin and San Antonio are in talks with the U.S. Department of Transportation about receiving federal funding to facilitate connecting the two cities via high-speed rail, according to local and federal officials.

“I think that that concept has a lot of promise, and we just have to continue working with the local community to see how to get it in shape and see what we can do on the federal level,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell confirmed ongoing conversations on the possibility of federal funding for the project.

“I think it’s in the very initial stages,” Leffingwell said. “There is interest here, and there is interest in the federal level.”

More at http://www.texastribune.org/2013/09/06/feds-may-fund-austin-san-antonio-high-speed-rail/ .

[Paladin]

1. How about we skip Syria and fund this project?

The sooner the better.....

[hobbit709]

2. To really do any good with high speed rail in TX

They need to link up SA, Austin, Dallas, and Houston.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. Faster Conventional Rail Might Be A Better Bet

As sexy as the high-speed rail concept may seem, I can't help but think that higher-speed conventional rail might be a better bet.

High-speed rail would probably mean building the high-speed rail route on a separate right-of-way, and I can imagine both the NIMBY and the Tea-Partyin' cheapskates who won't even fund a decent national rail passenger network screaming bloody murder.

I think that having conventional push-pull commuter trains, like California's surf-liners, with grade-crossing eliminations, construction of a separate main track and extra passing tracks along existing rights-of-way strictly for passenger rail, would be a lot more appropriate for a San Antonio--Austin--Georgetown passenger rail corridor. Trains could still go faster than poor put-upon Amtrak trains currently do on that route--sixty to eighty miles an hour when possible is nothing to sneeze at.

Unlike politicians and starry-eyed journalists, I'm a firm believer in using reliable, proven technology that WORKS, not something some consultant pulled out of his or her hat that hasn't been field-tested.



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Don't know what a Surf-liner looks like? Use the Bing web-search engine and look up the images.

[Javaman]

4. Meh, I'll believe it when I see it...

they have been talking about this for decades.