Amtrak making resurgence in Texas

TxDOT increases focus on rail

Steve Hawley, Apr 30, 10.

Amtrak is starting to make a comeback in Texas, and officials are planning to make improvements, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

After years of neglect by Congress, Amtrak has been granted significant funding increases in the last two years. The article reports:

Steps are being taken to speed up train trips between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City and increase service to Los Angeles, possibly this year. A proposal to extend service from Fort Worth to Wichita, Kan., and Kansas City is also gaining momentum.

Amtrak is investing millions of dollars in track and signal improvements and may soon buy new rail cars. It is also negotiating with freight railroads, which own the tracks that Amtrak leases for most of its routes, and government officials to run passenger trains more often and to more cities.

Passenger trains in most of Texas are limited to 79 miles per hour, and in some parts they are limited to 55 miles per hour. Officials hope to increase those speeds as high as 110 miles per hour with track and signal improvements. The state requested $1.9 billion in federal high-speed rail funding, but it was sharply criticized by federal officials for its lack of a common rail vision and received just $4 million. That money will go toward improving signal timing at rail crossings between Austin and Fort Worth, which will increase the speed of the Texas Eagle rail service.

But despite federal criticism, the state has taken positive steps. The Star-Telegram states:

The turning point came late last year, said Peter LeCody, president of Texas Rail Advocates, a nonprofit Dallas organization. That’s when the Texas Department of Transportation created a rail division to work on a long-term plan to expand rail statewide—and the agency’s chairwoman, Deirdre Delisi of Austin, publicly declared that passenger rail would be a vital part of the state’s future.

“That was the single most important thing to happen in Texas in decades,” LeCody said.

The Texas Department of Transportation is also updating its strategic plan to include more rail options. “Rail is going to be an important part of the solution,” said Deidre Delisi, chair of the state Transportation Commission. “For many many years, really since the creation of the Texas Department of Transportation, roads were seen as the only solution and we’re learning very quickly that ... we need to be thinking more of a multi-modal approach.”

The state also received $4 million in stimulus funding to double-track the Trinity Railway Express commuter rail line connecting Dallas and Fort Worth. The article explains, “Double-tracking allows trains to run simultaneously in two directions so one train doesn’t have to park at a siding and wait for another to pass.” Once the improvements are complete, Amtrak can use the line and avoid congested freight rail traffic in the region.

Amtrak is also in preliminary talks to build a station at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which would be its third station in the DFW region.

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