When Will Commuter Rail Arrive?

[MontroseNeighborhoodCafe]

Sept. 12, 2005, 12:13AM

When will commuter rail arrive?

Metro CEO says if everything goes smoothly, first of 3 lines to suburbs may be up by 2012

By RAD SALLEE and PATRICK KURP

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Read More...

[Talbot]

It seems so long from now, I can't wait!

[YakuzaIce]

moo, I just can't wait until you can go anywhere in the inner city on rail. Or at least rail with a bus transfer. But commuter rail is good to see. Anything to get cars off the road and allow us to go a long while till we even consider widening our freeways.

[kjb434]

The key word is "smooth". The biggest hurdle that METRO has to deal with is the current rail road companies. Sharing the rail is an efficient use of space and current alignments, but the rail road companies has keep their current customers happy while allowing the use of their lines by a different entity that is on a tight schedule.

[texasboy]

So METRO will be over the commuter lines also? Just asking because that is not always the case with all cities dealing with commuter vs light rail or subway.

[kjb434]

Yeah,

They will be over it, but they have to work very closely with UPRR which owns most if not all the rail lines in the region.

Railroad companies are some of the most dedicated to their current customer base.

[clutchcity123]

does anyone have any photos or an idea what the commuter rail may look like

[texasboy]

That would be something to have a train going to and from Galveston again.

[RedScare]

does anyone have any photos or an idea what the commuter rail may look like

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The commuter rail would be similar to this train between Dallas and Fort Worth.

http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org/traininfo.html

[clutchcity123]

that looks kinda tacky

[kjb434]

What would you want? It is essentially an Amtrak type train for a small regional area instead of between regions.

[clutchcity123]

i dont know but does anyone have any renderings of our trains

[texasboy]

i dont know but does anyone have any renderings of our trains

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is how most commuter trains look like. They are built for a heavier load.

[YakuzaIce]

Well all the texas flags on the cars are a little tacky. Unless he is thinking of high speed trains which usually have a mush sleeker shape. Were you expecting something like this...

[N Judah]

I liked those trains that Ralph Finnes rode in The Constant Gardener (in the scene where his lawyer brother in law gives him a new identity and tells him not to say his real name over the phone).

[Guest Plastic]

Geting a commuter rail that would be sleep and modern would be nice. I don't know why and how they are gonna put a line down Richmnd, they need something elevated like monorail.

They need 2 lines out to SUgarland, 1 down HWY 90 and 1 down 59.

We need atleast 1 out to each suburb(Katy,Sugarland,he Woodlands,CLear Lake) with a few stops along the way. They ocould connect to major points of intrest and places at crossraods . Take the Katy line, it ould go down I-10 and have a stop at the Marquee Ent Center,a shoping/actvity center where Town&Country used to be, a new center at HWY 6 and Katy Mills Mall. notices almots all of those are at the intersections of major routes. So I a crosstown train is developed,say down The Belt, a transit hub could be built where it could interface with the Katy Train and what's now Town and Country.

I sure hope they build lines to the airports.

[kjb434]

How old are you?

The Richmond line will serve: Uptown, Greeway Plaza, Connect to the Red Line, TSU, and UofH. Seems like a very viable line.

Commuter rail will not be a high speed rail service. The stops, although much further apart than LRT, will still be too close for the train to get up to high speeds.

Katy will not likely get any rail anytime soon since it will have a new wider freeway with two toll facilities (one dedicated specifically for mass transit unless you pay a higher price to drive, the other being the Westpark Tollway). The US 290 corridor, I-45 gulf freeway corridor, and US 90A corridor are excellent places to start commuter rail off. If communities in Fort Bend commit, they can extend the line all the way to Rosenberg, but the effort will not be part of metro. Look for the Woodlands to be in the same boat as Katy since it has an alternative of the Hardy Toll Road which TxDOT is considering to partner with HCTRA and METRO to make it a managed HOT lane. Carpoolers will not have to pay as much are at all and the single drivers will pay more. It would be easy to implement and they just need to finish the extension into downtown. The partnering would eliminate to make I-45 much wider especially through the Heights area where opposition is the highest.

[Guest Plastic]

I saw Westheimer needs a line. And as for Greenway Plaza, I would have the 59 commuter line connect to it.

[CE_ugh]

My guess if they will build the rail line to Clear Lake before they widen IH-45 or even construct the NASA 1 Bypass.

[Guest Plastic]

My guess if they will build the rail line to Clear Lake before they widen IH-45 or even construct the NASA 1 Bypass.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That sucks cause they couldhave built it along 45 and made a stop at the former Gulfgate place and saved it as well as a to be built center at 45 &the Belt,Baybrook Mall and have a final stop at NASA.

[zaphod]

Im no train expert, but i remember when reading about the rail situation in austin how the trains they are planning to use(which are not traditional locomotive and coaches, but all in one diesel light rail type things) arent "FRA compliant" or something of that nature because they were built overseas where the safety rules arent as strict or something, and that they couldnt be used on tracks at the same time freight trains are running.

Basically, something tells me that the trains will be EXACTLY like the ones in dallas(which are EXACTLY the ones ive seen in miami and toronto)

either way, if this all goes smoothly, then this city will start to have some of the transportation amenities that people in other places take for granted.

[skwatra]

My guess if they will build the rail line to Clear Lake before they widen IH-45 or even construct the NASA 1 Bypass.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

they've already started construction of the NASA parkway bypass, scheduled for completion by summer '07.

[skwatra]

My guess if they will build the rail line to Clear Lake before they widen IH-45 or even construct the NASA 1 Bypass.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

they've already started construction of the NASA parkway bypass, scheduled for completion by summer '07.

[eelimon]

Sept. 12, 2005, 12:13AM

When will commuter rail arrive?

Metro CEO says if everything goes smoothly, first of 3 lines to suburbs may be up by 2012

By RAD SALLEE and PATRICK KURP

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Read More...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Will there be any plans to expand commuter rail to the Woodlands/Conroe, Huntsville, Humble/Kingwood, Katy/Cinco Ranch?

[Talbot]

Hopefully so. But probably later on down the road.

Hopefully, eventually they will have a commuter line going in each compass direction and a sort of el or something going around loop 610 or closer in.

[Guest Plastic]

WTF is bus rapid transit?

[Dobiestud]

Hahaha, Bus Rapid Transit does sound like bs. they basically have sleeker lookin buses that look like the rail cars, so we can be happy we have some sort of mass transit. Basically its their way of saying something is being done. I have no clue why they would waste such money, since even if they have a special purpose, they will not be visibly more efficient than any other normal bus. What we do have to realize though, is that unlike the mail line stretch of rail we have now, all these extensions are primarily funded by the Feds, so nobody really cares about what money is spent. Infact, since we get all this money, and we cant really use it for anything else, they figure to waste it instead of speed up the existing rail projects. But atleast they try, huh?

I was at the airport the other day, and observed a group of european tourists (I have nooo idea what would bring them to Houston) who just could not understand that there is really no settled way for them to get from the airport (IAH) to the center of Houston. So, my opinion: rails should definately serve all major transportation hubs, such as airports and inter-city bus stations, and major work zones such as clear lake, katy corridor, greenspoint, and toward fort bend and east to pasadena. And although I dont disagree with widening certain roads, I think its really got to end at some point, we cant just go on and on widening everything, it just doesnt look good and serves little purpose!

[eelimon]

Hahaha, Bus Rapid Transit does sound like bs.  they basically have sleeker lookin buses that look like the rail cars, so we can be happy we have some sort of mass transit.  Basically its their way of saying something is being done.  I have no clue why they would waste such money, since even if they have a special purpose, they will not be visibly more efficient than any other normal bus.  What we do have to realize though, is that unlike the mail line stretch of rail we have now, all these extensions are primarily funded by the Feds, so nobody really cares about what money is spent.  Infact, since we get all this money, and we cant really use it for anything else, they figure to waste it instead of speed up the existing rail projects.  But atleast they try, huh?

I was at the airport the other day, and observed a group of european tourists (I have nooo idea what would bring them to Houston)  who just could not understand that there is really no settled way for them to get from the airport (IAH) to the center of Houston.  So, my opinion:  rails should definately serve all major transportation hubs, such as airports and inter-city bus stations, and major work zones such as clear lake, katy corridor, greenspoint, and toward fort bend and east to pasadena.  And although I dont disagree with widening certain roads, I think its really got to end at some point, we cant just go on and on widening everything, it just doesnt look good and serves little purpose!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know everyone has heard this before but all we have to do is look at the mistakes LA has made.

[YakuzaIce]

@Dobiestud

You do realize that the BRT will function similar to light rail just with reduced capacity. They will also be placing rails underneath the street so when ridership demands it those lines can be converted to LRT. Also this is speeding up all of the projects. Now we will have all the BRT and LRT (to uptown) sooner than when the plan was LRT originally for all routes. So we get all of our lines sooner and hopefully soon the BRT will be converted to LRT.

There is not enough traffic to sustain a line just to the airports (maybe Hobby). What would be more feasible is a commuter rail with an offshoot or stop at the airports.

800 posts.

[Guest Plastic]

I don't really see why we need light rail What Houston needs is commuter. Screw the Main line only city lines we need are down Westheimer and 1960.

Thsi commuter rail sound good except the locomotives are ugly and they cross exsistig roads and higyways. If we could get a way from the streets and the tracks not to cross eachother we would have a perfect rail plan.