Which plan would you like to see happen? This was a very exciting episode for us! It has been a long time in the works. Big thanks to Judge Brown and his staff for making it happen 🙌 Want to support the show? Check out our newly launched Patreon: www.patreon.com/TransitTangents
Awesome video! The Mini-Triangle alignment seems really good, but I think the bottom of the Mini-triangle should be further south. Instead of going from College Station to Austin, I'd consider the following alignment (from west to east) #1 A new tunnel going under downtown Austin, which would also be used for commuter rail and LRT. #2 The Austin-Western Railroad would run from Austin - Giddings, which would need to be double-tracked #3 From Giddings to Hempstead, the abandoned segment of the Austin-Western railroad corridor would be restored in a project similar to R2R #4 From Hempstead to Houston, the UP Eureka Subdivision would be used. #5 Houston's station would be relocated to its original (rightful) site 300M east to have three island platforms (also to be used for LRT and commuter rail), and would be connected to the POST building, and downtown Houston by pedestrian bridge. In terms of speed, Texas should first focus on getting the minimum infrastructure to achieve an average speed of 85mph (including stops), since this is the minimum speed that a train going from San Antonio/Houston to Dallas would need to beat an air traveler who has to check in, go through TSA, wait for baggage, etc. DFW and IAH are huge and hard to navigate, so passenger rail wouldn't need to go 200mph to be the most convenient option and drive ridership, especially if service is frequent, and the stations are improved.
San Antone, Austin, DFW, Oklahoma City. SA-OKC is 466 miles. That is similar to Brussels-Lille-Paris-Lyon ... And with a similar population centres . It should be a no brainer to have a HSR along the corridor . (together with the Texas Central HSR of course )
Maybe the Rail to Austin could go north all the way to Montana and North Dakota and Canada to Connect Northamerica and help the less develop Midwest of US to grow.
This video overstates the issues. Our cities were built along side the automobile and air conditioning. People simply don't want to walk around in 100 degrees Fahrenheit once they reach their destination.
@@jasong3972False. Most cities in the US were developed around the railroad and public transit. What you meant to say was that cities were destroyed for the automobile.
@@Ven100I'm not talking about most cities. I'm talking about Texas cities. Texas cities and the broader sun belt grew in the 20th century, after widespread use of the automobile and air conditioning.
I now live in Austin and work right by that Amtrak station. I had to relocate to Austin for my job and I always wished commuting by rail was possible. I have a lot of friends on the East Coast who commute via rail into DC and NYC and there's no reason we can't have a similar network.
Judge brown makes me excited to live in Texas. I'm just worried that with a public project it gives disproportionate power to small communities to strong arm and hold up the project. CA high speed faces the same issues and it keeps delaying their construction
It was so great to meet him! Hoping that folks are realizing how much benefit these types of projects have for everyone in the long run. Thanks for watching!
@@EdwardM-t8p Yes, but the good news is that Texas Central won an important victory at the Texas Supreme Court a few years ago that said they have the right to use eminent domain. That will give them (and other potential HSR players like Brightline) more ability to get through these types of obstacles going forward.
Elevated railway sections that allows traffic to pass freely underneath along with adding a local station for the community will go a long way toward convincing smaller towns to join the plan.
This is pretty cool to learn about! My state, Virginia, is also looking to expand passenger rail in a similar fashion to the sidings. However, this series of planned siding projects will eventually link together to form a continuous third and fourth track on the CSX RF&P Subdivision between DC and Richmond. On top of that, the third and fourth track will be owned by VPRA and available to passenger trains only! I really hope this project completes its course as this would be a huge opportunity for Amtrak to expand in Virginia, AND it could potentially bring the Virginia Railway Express to points further south, like Richmond, the Peninsula Subdivision, and Hampton Roads. As of now, these siding projects led by the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority are just beginning to take shape, with utilities being relocated for the Alexandria fourth track and overpass rebuilds soon beginning in order to accommodate up to four tracks underneath them. Virginia has so much potential to become a midpoint hub between DC and the proposed Atlanta hub and other points further south, especially at the Main Street station in Richmond. I'd love to see coverage on this if any big news ever comes out for these Virginia projects.
I live elsewhere, but visit family in this area often. I’m so excited to hear Texan city leaders advocating for rail. Every time I’m on I35 I wish I were on a train and I thought this was just because I’m a Californian transit nerd. Maybe it will actually happen!
I would love for a train to Austin or DFW. Frequency and late runs would be critical. I was up in Austin last weekend for football game and being able to take train instead of driving would have been great. Took CapMetro from South Congress to stadium and back and was super easy. Expanding to Mexico or other parts of Texas (looking at you Bryan- College Station).
This is really exciting! Thank you guys for the content and looking forward to more passenger trains in Texas! I am one of the guys more on the right, living in Dallas who is really trying to push my side into all of this.
a note on the competition between rail and airlines over specific routes- considering the issues that Boeing is having, airlines may struggle in the immediate future to provide the capacity needed to meet demand. Consequently, this is exactly the moment to be pushing for expansion of passenger rail
@TransitTangents Recently I enjoyed a trip on the EuroStar from Amsterdam to Paris. The experience was so much better than air travel. I simply hopped on, stowed my luggage, found my seat and provided my ticket when asked. No heavy security. No taking off my shoes and belt. No long lines or the other song and dance of air travel. I so badly want this here in enormous Texas!
I support these efforts and love to be able to contribute - thank you for covering this. I have taken multiple Amtrak round trips to Fort Worth. I would have also used Amtrak for day trips or weekend trips to San Antonio multiple times, but either the departure or return times, or both, were inconvenient. More convenient and reliable times are definitely needed (I've experienced 2+ hour delays on the Amtrak before). This press conference didn't mention any plans to improve the convenience of the train station in Austin, but it also could use some work since it's hard to get to on foot, or even by CapMetro bus. I usually cross the train tracks themselves from Lamar - not sure if that's allowed but lots of people definitely do that. Besides being somewhat isolated, the station also doesn't open much earlier than the scheduled Northbound departure time (around 30 minutes before). Hopefully with more trips during the day it will see more usage and they can make improvements to the station. Let's hope that eventually it will be conveniently connected to the planned Project Connect routes and the the future expanded HSR between Dallas and Houston.
Totally agree on the need for station improvements, as well as having to cross the tracks through a hole in the fence on foot to not have to add a TON of unnecessary distance to your walk if accessing the station from a bus or from much of downtown.... I do think before we see any improvements there, we will need to see more frequent service though. Excited to see what the future holds! Thanks for watching.
If Dallas-Houston gets built, the benefits will be obvious, and the rest of the triangle will (eventually) be built. But that all depends on the Dallas-Houston actually getting built in a timely and efficient manner.
Last month I was vacationing in San Diego and took the Coaster to Oceanside, just south of Camp Pendleton. (Interesting town and the surf museum was cool.) The train back was packed with fans going to the Padres game; there were people going from car to car looking for seats. The Coaster has 9-16 trains per day plus the local transit runs event trains after events so fans don't have to worry about missing the last train up the coast. Could be an option for Spurs games and other events in both cities.
Indeed. And, Metrolink announced an increase in train service beginning as of October 21st. Several lines will now run more trains in the middle of the day. This is the first phase in converting Metrolink from a mostly commuter service to a true regional train service across the 5 counties it serves.
I live in San Antonio and have taking this train to McGregor TX to go to Waco. I want to take it more often but the times are bad. One way to fix the times and to fix one of the problems you talk about in this video is to create a new station around the 1604 loop in San Antonio. From there to the downtown area takes around an hour because the train moves so slow. It would also mean I could leave an hour later and get back an hour earlier.
It’s good to see someone’s having this conversation I’ve only lived in San Antonio for about a year and I’ve wondered since day one why I can’t jump on a train to Dallas or Houston.
I live in a small town east of Austin with a freight rail that goes through it. I have family in San Antonio and it would be less time to drive but I hate driving there so much I go to Austin, take the Amtrak and spend a few days in San Antonio. Once on the train it’s great! I can read or watch videos while I ride, but my complaints are 1: the train is always delayed, last time it was delayed by 3 hours. They’ll sometimes text you so we went and did some things in Austin, but the train didn’t arrive until 9 when it was supposed to be there by 6. 2: it only leaves late in the afternoon and returns early in the morning. It would be cool to spend just the day, but if I go by train I have to plan for several nights, otherwise I arrive, spend the night and leave in the morning. 3: this probably won’t happen, but remember how I said there’s a freight rail that goes through my town? Well I looked up the tracks and it leads to San Antonio. It would be awesome if Amtrak built a station in my town so I wouldn’t have to drive to Austin.
I always find it funny how we keep seeing the N700 model for the Texas Shinkansen. Cause like, the elongated nose of the N700 is to reduce the "sonic boom" as it enters tunnels... things that are not really planned for the Texas route.
That graphic showing a widened I-35 at 18 to 20 lanes including frontage roads shows the additional footprint required over a two-track subway to carry 36k to 40k people per hour in motor vehicles.
Man, everything in this video was like music to my ear, especially a connection to Mexico. But, I didn't quite catch, how do we get more involved to make this happen?
Hello . Thank you for this s video. It’s good to see the younger generation show interest in this topic which is the need of passenger rail service in the barren wasteland of Texas without it! I’ve been saying for the last 10 years that this concept is past due , a no brainer, and almost illegal that Texas doesn’t have a well recognized passenger rail system. The ones that have lobbied against it , have seen the damage they have caused by the 4,000 plus fatalities a year on Texas roads. Being a car centric state, and not having fast and frequent rail service has left Texans and tourist segregated from destinations because of time and money. Passenger rail is a proven concept. But the naysayers shoot it down for its lack of connectivity! Had the last 15 years been spent funding the TXDOT Rail Division, funding the account for passenger projects our rail landscape would be a lot more efficient and with higher connectivity. Wasting anymore time is ridiculous. Texas needs a permanent handshake with Mexico , which is passenger rail service. I feel like a lot of the narratives on the border is self induced because there isn’t a passenger rail easing the mind of travelers of what it’s actually like on the other side of the border. I’ve also said for years there needs to be a high speed rail built from Texas all the way to the Panama Canal. This would take 20 years to build but would provide so many jobs in those countries that are starving for infrastructure jobs. We have to spend billions a year in Texas passenger rail expansions of lines and stations, like we spend billions for 15 lane freeways here! It’s ridiculous! I’m so excited to see the Gov. Nuevo León speak about this issue for his state and the linking of Texas. This is a major step forward the border crisis. It will bring civility and prosperity, and permanently link our nations by an alternative transportation system that used to exist but was faded out for highways instead. The connection from San Antonio to Harlingen to McAllen is a huge step forward as well. The Rio Grand Valley is the largest metro in the USA that isn’t connected by a major freeway or passenger rail service. I-69 is coming online in the next year or so. But that just shows how long the metro of 2.5 million (on both sides of the border) People has been disconnected and separated from economic growth and transportation infrastructure!
It has to be High Speed rail. If travel times can't beat a car then Texans won't ride it. That's just the world we live in today. Speed and efficiency is the only way rail will work in Texas.
I do think some non high speed concepts would work. If we could have trains between Austin and San Antonio with stops in New Braunfels and San Marcos, and those trains went 65-70mph but you didn't need to deal with driving on I-35, I would totally use the train. Routes like Houston to Dallas on the other hand I do think would be better served by true high speed rail. Ideal scenario is both happen though lol. High speed distance trips with regular trains making more frequent stops in smaller cities, big towns, etc... Thanks for watching! -Louis
@@TransitTangents I don't know why we dont build an elevated HSR line over existing freight lines? Sharing the same right-of-way, while also having an above ground line that wouldn't need at grade crossings. Its a win win. The only areas where land purchases would be required are on turns that are to sharp for HSR. Other than those areas 95% of the route is already set.
@@keeganbrown9967 try pricing that concept. And I will even let you ignore the impact to the existing rail service for the years it takes you to build it! That can work in a big city, especially if you can divert to around. But its horribly expensive to elevate that much rail for hundreds of miles. The system would work better with service to San Antonio and a spur through Bryan/College Station and Austin. What is promising is that Amtrak and soon Greyhound will both use EBJ Union Station -- if they can bring the alignment for the HSR into there as well we will have service to Fort Worth via TRE added as well.
As a Texan I'll believe it when I see it. Last time I remember this happening in the 90s, Southwest Airlines stepped in and spread money around politicians and ended it.
It was a missed opportunity to pay UP to move their freight line east of 35 so the existing line could be converted to Lone Star Rail. $2.4 billion to move the UP line back in 2016 seems like a bargain now!
I just returned from a few weeks in the Netherlands, and it's astonishing the transport network they have developed. We can and must do better. Everyone being in a car, driving alone, is not a sustainable solution. Endless highway expansion and maintenance is not a sustainable solution. We are so desperately far behind our peer countries. We have the resources and technology to fast track a better public transport network.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum just made a press conference yesterday to inaugurate the construction of the rail route Mexico City - Queretaro that eventually will follow to the construction of the Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo rail route.
What types density is required to justify transit? What types of density is required to support small businesses like burger shops or coffee shops? Is there and similarities between the density needed by both?
It really depends on the type of transit, but in general more density is easier to serve by better transit. I would also imagine that more density around a burger spot or coffee shop has similar benefits. I know that I go to restaurants and coffee shops that I can walk to much more frequently than ones I have to drive to. As far as the plans discussed in this video go, all of these places can justify better transit at this point both within their city limits, but also for regional service beyond. That is why I definitely support these plans and was very excited to have the conversation! Thanks for watching. 😊 -Louis
I'm all for a free market economy and capitalism, but it seems like the private rail lines are throttling the process and making it impossible for better passenger rail to happen. How do we get that to change?
Renegotiate the agreement with the private freight railroad companies that created Amtrak. That's where the biggest problems started for passenger rail service in the USA. Use Eminent Domain where necessary to buy needed ROWs for passenger service. Finally, create a federal government office to fund the building of modern passenger rail service across the country, including the creation of new ROWs strictly for passenger service to finally separate out freight from passenger service. This would include HSR, Amtrak, regional, comnuter, and even local public rail transit. Use a more holistic, big picture approach just like we did with the creation of the National Highway System.
It's a chicken/egg situation in my opinion. You're not going to build a big station for a route that sees two trains a day. I think a commitment to increased rail service though would warrant and bring a much better station.
@@JimBones1990 Yeah a lot of questions there still. Right now light rail won't even get very close. You'd have to walk to Republic Square (Which likely won't even have a light rail stop on current plans). It would be interesting to build like a terminus station and extend the tracks down 3rd street a bit for a closer connection (Like 3rd and San Antonio or something). But you'd literally have to have trains backing in or out so I don't know how the logistics of that would work (maybe a bad idea). It's unfortunate that the original tracks which ran down 3rd/4th don't exist. Between the potential benefits for more Amtrak, or extending the redline further downtown to republic sq even.... If the station stays were it is, a way to safely cross the tracks to connect to 3rd street would be essential. Right now there is a hole in the fence and a dirt path lol. -Louis
I am 39 years old, and I remember first hearing a high speed rail proposal back in the late 1990's. As a kid, I remember thinking how great it would be to have a train take me from LA to San Francisco. I now live in the California Central Valley, and am still 6 years away before having the high speed train and it will only take me to Merced, Fresno, and Bakersfield. Since 1999 to 2030, that is 31 years, and that's how long it will take for Texas to get high speed rail. Firstly, because it's a cumbersome process, and because the California Republican Party and Southern California Democrats really stalled progress, and still continue to try and stop or stall the project. Texas has even more Republicans, and I suspect just as many treacherous Democrats.
Upgrade the lines to HSR class 8 use power lines for new metro lines 6 trains a day between large cities is horrible that’s rural level service in most places globally
Ehh between Austin and San Antonio I'm not convinced it needs to be true HSR. They're not that far apart. It should be fast, yes, but I'd take going 80mph even with efficient stops in San Marcos and New Braunfels. Don't get me wrong though, if it were true HSR that would be great. -Louis
It's ridiculous that it requires so much hoop jumping and coordinating with endless special interests, both public and private. It's no wonder the USA has such poor passenger rail service. The biggest obstacle, besides funding, are the private freight railroad companies. The federal government needs to create a national passenger rail service department and fund a nationwide program to modern passenger rail service. Fund state and local projects that have been vetted as worthwhile transit projects. Use Eminent Domain when at all possible on ROWs that make sense for passenger service. And, lastly, fund the creation of new ROWs solely for passenger service across the nation. Finally, separating passenger ROWs from freight ROWs to more quickly move passenger rail service into the 21st century. And, yes, that includes true, well designed, High Speed Rail.
This project would fail in Texas. It puts the cart before the horse. Texas cities are built for cars. You can take Amtrak into any city and still not be able to get anywhere within that city. If you want to improve traffic, improve freight rail so highways are free of long hail trucking. Increase walkability in the downtowns to reduce stop light congestion. Plant more trees in urban spaces so people don't bake in the heat. Not that complicated.
1. I would ride this. 2. Cost to widen the highways more will be outrageous. 3. You can't fly from Austin to San Antonio, and when you factor in the cost of owning your car in the first place, it's honestly probably close. Thanks for watching. -Louis
Which plan would you like to see happen? This was a very exciting episode for us! It has been a long time in the works. Big thanks to Judge Brown and his staff for making it happen 🙌
Want to support the show? Check out our newly launched Patreon: www.patreon.com/TransitTangents
Awesome video!
The Mini-Triangle alignment seems really good, but I think the bottom of the Mini-triangle should be further south.
Instead of going from College Station to Austin, I'd consider the following alignment (from west to east)
#1 A new tunnel going under downtown Austin, which would also be used for commuter rail and LRT.
#2 The Austin-Western Railroad would run from Austin - Giddings, which would need to be double-tracked
#3 From Giddings to Hempstead, the abandoned segment of the Austin-Western railroad corridor would be restored in a project similar to R2R
#4 From Hempstead to Houston, the UP Eureka Subdivision would be used.
#5 Houston's station would be relocated to its original (rightful) site 300M east to have three island platforms (also to be used for LRT and commuter rail), and would be connected to the POST building, and downtown Houston by pedestrian bridge.
In terms of speed, Texas should first focus on getting the minimum infrastructure to achieve an average speed of 85mph (including stops), since this is the minimum speed that a train going from San Antonio/Houston to Dallas would need to beat an air traveler who has to check in, go through TSA, wait for baggage, etc.
DFW and IAH are huge and hard to navigate, so passenger rail wouldn't need to go 200mph to be the most convenient option and drive ridership, especially if service is frequent, and the stations are improved.
San Antone, Austin, DFW, Oklahoma City. SA-OKC is 466 miles. That is similar to Brussels-Lille-Paris-Lyon ... And with a similar population centres .
It should be a no brainer to have a HSR along the corridor . (together with the Texas Central HSR of course )
Maybe the Rail to Austin could go north all the way to Montana and North Dakota and Canada to Connect Northamerica and help the less develop Midwest of US to grow.
Astounding how complicated this is in the US. Every other first world nation seems to have easily surpassed these hurdles.
This video overstates the issues. Our cities were built along side the automobile and air conditioning. People simply don't want to walk around in 100 degrees Fahrenheit once they reach their destination.
@@jasong3972more people would if the streets weren't devoid of shade
@@jasong3972False. Most cities in the US were developed around the railroad and public transit. What you meant to say was that cities were destroyed for the automobile.
@@Ven100I'm not talking about most cities. I'm talking about Texas cities. Texas cities and the broader sun belt grew in the 20th century, after widespread use of the automobile and air conditioning.
@@BooleanDevYou're correct. Maybe fix that locally before a billion dollar rail project.
I now live in Austin and work right by that Amtrak station. I had to relocate to Austin for my job and I always wished commuting by rail was possible. I have a lot of friends on the East Coast who commute via rail into DC and NYC and there's no reason we can't have a similar network.
Hopefully we will see it happen someday! Thanks for watching.
Judge brown makes me excited to live in Texas. I'm just worried that with a public project it gives disproportionate power to small communities to strong arm and hold up the project. CA high speed faces the same issues and it keeps delaying their construction
It was so great to meet him! Hoping that folks are realizing how much benefit these types of projects have for everyone in the long run. Thanks for watching!
Didn't small communities and landowners strong arm and hold up Texas Central through endless lawsuits?
@@EdwardM-t8p Yes, but the good news is that Texas Central won an important victory at the Texas Supreme Court a few years ago that said they have the right to use eminent domain. That will give them (and other potential HSR players like Brightline) more ability to get through these types of obstacles going forward.
Elevated railway sections that allows traffic to pass freely underneath along with adding a local station for the community will go a long way toward convincing smaller towns to join the plan.
This is pretty cool to learn about! My state, Virginia, is also looking to expand passenger rail in a similar fashion to the sidings. However, this series of planned siding projects will eventually link together to form a continuous third and fourth track on the CSX RF&P Subdivision between DC and Richmond. On top of that, the third and fourth track will be owned by VPRA and available to passenger trains only! I really hope this project completes its course as this would be a huge opportunity for Amtrak to expand in Virginia, AND it could potentially bring the Virginia Railway Express to points further south, like Richmond, the Peninsula Subdivision, and Hampton Roads. As of now, these siding projects led by the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority are just beginning to take shape, with utilities being relocated for the Alexandria fourth track and overpass rebuilds soon beginning in order to accommodate up to four tracks underneath them. Virginia has so much potential to become a midpoint hub between DC and the proposed Atlanta hub and other points further south, especially at the Main Street station in Richmond. I'd love to see coverage on this if any big news ever comes out for these Virginia projects.
I live elsewhere, but visit family in this area often. I’m so excited to hear Texan city leaders advocating for rail. Every time I’m on I35 I wish I were on a train and I thought this was just because I’m a Californian transit nerd. Maybe it will actually happen!
We hope it will happen! Tell your family to reach out to their city and state leaders and voice their support!
I would love for a train to Austin or DFW. Frequency and late runs would be critical. I was up in Austin last weekend for football game and being able to take train instead of driving would have been great. Took CapMetro from South Congress to stadium and back and was super easy.
Expanding to Mexico or other parts of Texas (looking at you Bryan- College Station).
Agree! Thanks for watching!
This is really exciting! Thank you guys for the content and looking forward to more passenger trains in Texas!
I am one of the guys more on the right, living in Dallas who is really trying to push my side into all of this.
Love to hear it! Thanks for watching!
@@TransitTangents of course :) great content 👍
The left ruins everything
a note on the competition between rail and airlines over specific routes- considering the issues that Boeing is having, airlines may struggle in the immediate future to provide the capacity needed to meet demand. Consequently, this is exactly the moment to be pushing for expansion of passenger rail
Agree! Flying feels like it is becoming more and more inconvenient in general as well. Thanks for watching. - Louis
@TransitTangents Recently I enjoyed a trip on the EuroStar from Amsterdam to Paris. The experience was so much better than air travel. I simply hopped on, stowed my luggage, found my seat and provided my ticket when asked.
No heavy security. No taking off my shoes and belt. No long lines or the other song and dance of air travel.
I so badly want this here in enormous Texas!
I support these efforts and love to be able to contribute - thank you for covering this. I have taken multiple Amtrak round trips to Fort Worth. I would have also used Amtrak for day trips or weekend trips to San Antonio multiple times, but either the departure or return times, or both, were inconvenient. More convenient and reliable times are definitely needed (I've experienced 2+ hour delays on the Amtrak before). This press conference didn't mention any plans to improve the convenience of the train station in Austin, but it also could use some work since it's hard to get to on foot, or even by CapMetro bus. I usually cross the train tracks themselves from Lamar - not sure if that's allowed but lots of people definitely do that. Besides being somewhat isolated, the station also doesn't open much earlier than the scheduled Northbound departure time (around 30 minutes before). Hopefully with more trips during the day it will see more usage and they can make improvements to the station. Let's hope that eventually it will be conveniently connected to the planned Project Connect routes and the the future expanded HSR between Dallas and Houston.
Totally agree on the need for station improvements, as well as having to cross the tracks through a hole in the fence on foot to not have to add a TON of unnecessary distance to your walk if accessing the station from a bus or from much of downtown.... I do think before we see any improvements there, we will need to see more frequent service though. Excited to see what the future holds! Thanks for watching.
If Dallas-Houston gets built, the benefits will be obvious, and the rest of the triangle will (eventually) be built. But that all depends on the Dallas-Houston actually getting built in a timely and efficient manner.
Last month I was vacationing in San Diego and took the Coaster to Oceanside, just south of Camp Pendleton. (Interesting town and the surf museum was cool.) The train back was packed with fans going to the Padres game; there were people going from car to car looking for seats. The Coaster has 9-16 trains per day plus the local transit runs event trains after events so fans don't have to worry about missing the last train up the coast. Could be an option for Spurs games and other events in both cities.
Indeed. And, Metrolink announced an increase in train service beginning as of October 21st. Several lines will now run more trains in the middle of the day.
This is the first phase in converting Metrolink from a mostly commuter service to a true regional train service across the 5 counties it serves.
Thanks for sharing! Definitely one benefit would be to go to sports game in Austin and San Antonio (Spurs, UT, Austin FC, etc....)
Yes, we are ready!
I would love to see more rail in Texas..... would be nice to have a Texas line go North to South from Laredo to the North through the Panhandle
would love a train between SA and Austin esp if it has stops not just in downtown but also at SAT and AUS
I live in San Antonio and have taking this train to McGregor TX to go to Waco. I want to take it more often but the times are bad. One way to fix the times and to fix one of the problems you talk about in this video is to create a new station around the 1604 loop in San Antonio. From there to the downtown area takes around an hour because the train moves so slow. It would also mean I could leave an hour later and get back an hour earlier.
Great setting for this interview! Love the train pulling out as you're nearly wrapping up the interview.
Thanks for watching!
It’s good to see someone’s having this conversation I’ve only lived in San Antonio for about a year and I’ve wondered since day one why I can’t jump on a train to Dallas or Houston.
I live in a small town east of Austin with a freight rail that goes through it. I have family in San Antonio and it would be less time to drive but I hate driving there so much I go to Austin, take the Amtrak and spend a few days in San Antonio. Once on the train it’s great! I can read or watch videos while I ride, but my complaints are 1: the train is always delayed, last time it was delayed by 3 hours. They’ll sometimes text you so we went and did some things in Austin, but the train didn’t arrive until 9 when it was supposed to be there by 6. 2: it only leaves late in the afternoon and returns early in the morning. It would be cool to spend just the day, but if I go by train I have to plan for several nights, otherwise I arrive, spend the night and leave in the morning. 3: this probably won’t happen, but remember how I said there’s a freight rail that goes through my town? Well I looked up the tracks and it leads to San Antonio. It would be awesome if Amtrak built a station in my town so I wouldn’t have to drive to Austin.
You guys should go to the Mayan Riviera and visit the newly inaugurated Tren Maya.
I always find it funny how we keep seeing the N700 model for the Texas Shinkansen.
Cause like, the elongated nose of the N700 is to reduce the "sonic boom" as it enters tunnels... things that are not really planned for the Texas route.
I would love to see Corpus included.
That graphic showing a widened I-35 at 18 to 20 lanes including frontage roads shows the additional footprint required over a two-track subway to carry 36k to 40k people per hour in motor vehicles.
Sigh, yeah 35 is going to be even uglier than it already is.... -Louis
Man, everything in this video was like music to my ear, especially a connection to Mexico. But, I didn't quite catch, how do we get more involved to make this happen?
As Texan Rail Fan, we are better SECURE and CLEAR for double tracks....
Hello . Thank you for this s video. It’s good to see the younger generation show interest in this topic which is the need of passenger rail service in the barren wasteland of Texas without it!
I’ve been saying for the last 10 years that this concept is past due , a no brainer, and almost illegal that Texas doesn’t have a well recognized passenger rail system.
The ones that have lobbied against it , have seen the damage they have caused by the 4,000 plus fatalities a year on Texas roads.
Being a car centric state, and not having fast and frequent rail service has left Texans and tourist segregated from destinations because of time and money.
Passenger rail is a proven concept. But the naysayers shoot it down for its lack of connectivity!
Had the last 15 years been spent funding the TXDOT Rail Division, funding the account for passenger projects our rail landscape would be a lot more efficient and with higher connectivity.
Wasting anymore time is ridiculous.
Texas needs a permanent handshake with Mexico , which is passenger rail service.
I feel like a lot of the narratives on the border is self induced because there isn’t a passenger rail easing the mind of travelers of what it’s actually like on the other side of the border.
I’ve also said for years there needs to be a high speed rail built from Texas all the way to the Panama Canal. This would take 20 years to build but would provide so many jobs in those countries that are starving for infrastructure jobs.
We have to spend billions a year in Texas passenger rail expansions of lines and stations, like we spend billions for 15 lane freeways here!
It’s ridiculous!
I’m so excited to see the Gov. Nuevo León speak about this issue for his state and the linking of Texas.
This is a major step forward the border crisis.
It will bring civility and prosperity, and permanently link our nations by an alternative transportation system that used to exist but was faded out for highways instead.
The connection from San Antonio to Harlingen to McAllen is a huge step forward as well.
The Rio Grand Valley is the largest metro in the USA that isn’t connected by a major freeway or passenger rail service. I-69 is coming online in the next year or so.
But that just shows how long the metro of 2.5 million (on both sides of the border)
People has been disconnected and separated from economic growth and transportation infrastructure!
Thanks for watching!
It has to be High Speed rail. If travel times can't beat a car then Texans won't ride it. That's just the world we live in today. Speed and efficiency is the only way rail will work in Texas.
I do think some non high speed concepts would work. If we could have trains between Austin and San Antonio with stops in New Braunfels and San Marcos, and those trains went 65-70mph but you didn't need to deal with driving on I-35, I would totally use the train. Routes like Houston to Dallas on the other hand I do think would be better served by true high speed rail. Ideal scenario is both happen though lol. High speed distance trips with regular trains making more frequent stops in smaller cities, big towns, etc... Thanks for watching! -Louis
@@TransitTangents I don't know why we dont build an elevated HSR line over existing freight lines? Sharing the same right-of-way, while also having an above ground line that wouldn't need at grade crossings. Its a win win. The only areas where land purchases would be required are on turns that are to sharp for HSR. Other than those areas 95% of the route is already set.
@@keeganbrown9967 try pricing that concept. And I will even let you ignore the impact to the existing rail service for the years it takes you to build it! That can work in a big city, especially if you can divert to around. But its horribly expensive to elevate that much rail for hundreds of miles.
The system would work better with service to San Antonio and a spur through Bryan/College Station and Austin. What is promising is that Amtrak and soon Greyhound will both use EBJ Union Station -- if they can bring the alignment for the HSR into there as well we will have service to Fort Worth via TRE added as well.
As a Texan I'll believe it when I see it. Last time I remember this happening in the 90s, Southwest Airlines stepped in and spread money around politicians and ended it.
It was a missed opportunity to pay UP to move their freight line east of 35 so the existing line could be converted to Lone Star Rail. $2.4 billion to move the UP line back in 2016 seems like a bargain now!
I just returned from a few weeks in the Netherlands, and it's astonishing the transport network they have developed.
We can and must do better. Everyone being in a car, driving alone, is not a sustainable solution. Endless highway expansion and maintenance is not a sustainable solution. We are so desperately far behind our peer countries. We have the resources and technology to fast track a better public transport network.
i hope they are!
Fingers crossed! It seems like Judge Brown, Sakai and others are doing the right things to make it happen. Thanks for watching!
I would take a train from the suburbs of Houston to the Downtown Houston.
Thanks!
Thanks for the support!
Induced demand is what he was referencing
Upgrade the lines to HSR class 8 use power lines for new metro lines
Im assuming by power lines you're referring to Right of way dedication.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum just made a press conference yesterday to inaugurate the construction of the rail route Mexico City - Queretaro that eventually will follow to the construction of the Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo rail route.
Yes! I have been seeing bits and pieces of this in the news. Maybe a topic for a future episode!
The current system is the biggest hindrance to forward thinking.
What types density is required to justify transit? What types of density is required to support small businesses like burger shops or coffee shops? Is there and similarities between the density needed by both?
It really depends on the type of transit, but in general more density is easier to serve by better transit. I would also imagine that more density around a burger spot or coffee shop has similar benefits. I know that I go to restaurants and coffee shops that I can walk to much more frequently than ones I have to drive to. As far as the plans discussed in this video go, all of these places can justify better transit at this point both within their city limits, but also for regional service beyond. That is why I definitely support these plans and was very excited to have the conversation! Thanks for watching. 😊 -Louis
I'm all for a free market economy and capitalism, but it seems like the private rail lines are throttling the process and making it impossible for better passenger rail to happen. How do we get that to change?
Nationalize the interetate* rail infrastructure.
*Class A railroads
Ding, ding, ding!!!
Renegotiate the agreement with the private freight railroad companies that created Amtrak. That's where the biggest problems started for passenger rail service in the USA. Use Eminent Domain where necessary to buy needed ROWs for passenger service.
Finally, create a federal government office to fund the building of modern passenger rail service across the country, including the creation of new ROWs strictly for passenger service to finally separate out freight from passenger service. This would include HSR, Amtrak, regional, comnuter, and even local public rail transit. Use a more holistic, big picture approach just like we did with the creation of the National Highway System.
How come Lewis/Louis doesn’t get a chyron nameplate?
You made me think I missed it in the edit 😅. There is one at 0:18. Thanks for watching! -Louis
@@TransitTangents Ah ok. I was ready to go to war
@@robotempire 😅
One of two major problems for Austin is that the station is way too small for a state capitol.
It's a chicken/egg situation in my opinion. You're not going to build a big station for a route that sees two trains a day. I think a commitment to increased rail service though would warrant and bring a much better station.
@@TransitTangents Problem #2: What if it serves CapMetro Light Rail as well? Or how: Streetside on 3rd or platformside?
@@JimBones1990 Yeah a lot of questions there still. Right now light rail won't even get very close. You'd have to walk to Republic Square (Which likely won't even have a light rail stop on current plans). It would be interesting to build like a terminus station and extend the tracks down 3rd street a bit for a closer connection (Like 3rd and San Antonio or something). But you'd literally have to have trains backing in or out so I don't know how the logistics of that would work (maybe a bad idea). It's unfortunate that the original tracks which ran down 3rd/4th don't exist. Between the potential benefits for more Amtrak, or extending the redline further downtown to republic sq even....
If the station stays were it is, a way to safely cross the tracks to connect to 3rd street would be essential. Right now there is a hole in the fence and a dirt path lol. -Louis
Build a station on top of new I35?
@@TransitTangents How about the lot with that old factory?
Use your legs and your bicycles, saludos desde Monterrey México
What is the Judge going to do about the Land Owners and state legislators funded by the Southwest CEO that have fought to hard against Texas Central?
DART forced southwest to back down.
Open rail maps has a layer that shows speed limits
Ahh I have not looked at this before! I'll check it out. Thanks for watching! -Louis
I am 39 years old, and I remember first hearing a high speed rail proposal back in the late 1990's. As a kid, I remember thinking how great it would be to have a train take me from LA to San Francisco. I now live in the California Central Valley, and am still 6 years away before having the high speed train and it will only take me to Merced, Fresno, and Bakersfield. Since 1999 to 2030, that is 31 years, and that's how long it will take for Texas to get high speed rail. Firstly, because it's a cumbersome process, and because the California Republican Party and Southern California Democrats really stalled progress, and still continue to try and stop or stall the project. Texas has even more Republicans, and I suspect just as many treacherous Democrats.
Upgrade the lines to HSR class 8 use power lines for new metro lines 6 trains a day between large cities is horrible that’s rural level service in most places globally
Once Texas turns blue, the public infrastructure investment will be very interesting
doesn't need to turn blue. The car/TV brained boomers just need to pass. train infrastructure is at least for younger demographics bipartisan.
Keep dreaming. Texas is conservative. That being said i do want less car centric cities. That has nothing to do with party affiliation
@@keeganbrown9967 Texas has been trending blue a lot due to migration from California and New York and is set to turn blue in the coming decade
@@frontrowviews wet dreams...
@@frontrowviewsmost of the migrants were Californian conservatives
Six hours from Austin to Ft. Worth......crazy! Passenger rail doesn't work in TX. Stop wasting taxpayer money!
We need to nationalize the railway tracks
Anything that isn’t high speed rail between cities is pure nonsense.
Ehh between Austin and San Antonio I'm not convinced it needs to be true HSR. They're not that far apart. It should be fast, yes, but I'd take going 80mph even with efficient stops in San Marcos and New Braunfels. Don't get me wrong though, if it were true HSR that would be great. -Louis
@@TransitTangents I think that’s fair, SA is still within the region. But Dallas and Houston, Ft worth… I need to be moving at 300 km/h😂
It's ridiculous that it requires so much hoop jumping and coordinating with endless special interests, both public and private. It's no wonder the USA has such poor passenger rail service. The biggest obstacle, besides funding, are the private freight railroad companies.
The federal government needs to create a national passenger rail service department and fund a nationwide program to modern passenger rail service. Fund state and local projects that have been vetted as worthwhile transit projects. Use Eminent Domain when at all possible on ROWs that make sense for passenger service. And, lastly, fund the creation of new ROWs solely for passenger service across the nation. Finally, separating passenger ROWs from freight ROWs to more quickly move passenger rail service into the 21st century. And, yes, that includes true, well designed, High Speed Rail.
Dems need to leave Texas. Go to California
This project would fail in Texas. It puts the cart before the horse. Texas cities are built for cars. You can take Amtrak into any city and still not be able to get anywhere within that city. If you want to improve traffic, improve freight rail so highways are free of long hail trucking. Increase walkability in the downtowns to reduce stop light congestion. Plant more trees in urban spaces so people don't bake in the heat. Not that complicated.
No. No one will ride this. Cost would be outrageous. Cheaper to fly and drive
1. I would ride this. 2. Cost to widen the highways more will be outrageous. 3. You can't fly from Austin to San Antonio, and when you factor in the cost of owning your car in the first place, it's honestly probably close. Thanks for watching. -Louis