Senate committee approves $2 million for Galveston commuter rail

Pays for environmental work

Steve Hawley, Aug 05, 09.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on July 31 approved $2 million for a Galveston commuter rail line, according to the Galveston County Daily News. The money would pay for an environmental analysis and move the 51-mile project into its preliminary engineering phase.

The article notes:

The rail line would carry 11,500 passengers a day, reduce 51.7 million vehicle miles traveled, reduce 509 tons of pollution annually, save 425,000 gallons of fuel per year, greatly enhance access to employment and allow for more than $1 billon in new, private investment along the corridor, according to [Senator Kay Bailey] Hutchison’s office.

Hutchison is one of the members of the Appropriations Committee. She told reporters, “As more and more people continue to move to the Houston area, transportation projects like the Galveston-Houston Commuter Rail Corridor are becoming increasingly important alternatives to automobile travel. This funding will help ease highway traffic between Houston and Galveston and give commuters more transportation options.”

The bill will now be considered by the full Senate.

In a recent commentary piece, Christof Spieler of the local Citizens’ Transportation Coalition notes that commuter rail has strong political support in the Houston region, and that rail lines to Galveston and along the Hempstead Corridor may be operating as early as 2012.