citykid09 Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Updated March 21, 2006 6:42 AM Local officials approached about rail service By APRIL AVISON Eagle Staff Writer Local government officials said Monday they would like to hear more about proposed passenger rail service that would move daily commuters along U.S. 290 between Houston and College Station. Representatives of the Houston-area Passenger Rail Coalition attended a meeting Monday of the Intergovernmental Committee, a group of representatives from Brazos County and the Bryan and College Station city councils and school boards. Darcy Mingoia, president of the Cypress-Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, said the commuter rail would be an "Amtrak-type service" on the railroad tracks that mostly parallel U.S. 290 and are owned and operated by Union Pacific. Mingoia did not ask for financial support - funding sources for such a project could include the Federal Transit Association and other state, federal and local sources - but she did request resolutions of support from the Bryan and College Station city councils. "Commuter rail has to be part of the mobility solution for our area," Mingoia said. "We have too many people trying to use our roads. What we're trying to do is go along the corridor and talk to people and see if there is potential for support." To read the rest click here: http://www.theeagle.com/stories/032106/local_20060321001.php A link to the BCS to H-town 290 rail page: http://290prc.com/290_prc.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CE_ugh Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Its unfortunate that just like renaming College Station, Malfunction Junction; it will never happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 The ridership from B-CS alone will almost certainly be insufficient to justify the cost of the route at present. HOWEVER, tracks from B-CS go through Hearne, a major junction, and then go to both Dallas and Fort Worth! If we could somehow connect 'Grand Central Stations' in both Dallas and Houston, and maintain relatively high-speed rail service, then such a route becomes very desirable for a lot of people.Unfortunately, Southwest Airlines would kill that idea as soon as government entities became involved. They've got a long political reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 The ridership from B-CS alone will almost certainly be insufficient to justify the cost of the route at present. HOWEVER, tracks from B-CS go through Hearne, a major junction, and then go to both Dallas and Fort Worth! If we could somehow connect 'Grand Central Stations' in both Dallas and Houston, and maintain relatively high-speed rail service, then such a route becomes very desirable for a lot of people.Unfortunately, Southwest Airlines would kill that idea as soon as government entities became involved. They've got a long political reach. There is a plan for a state wide commuter rail, its called the Texas Triangle. It will go from Dallas to Houston to San Antonio and back up to Dallas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamtagon Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 The likelihood of passenger train service between Dallas and Houston is strengthened by the cooperative efforts to build an agile port in South Dallas County. Additionally, with a repeal of the Wright Amendment, Southwest would be much less inclined to oppose passenger train service, rather American Eagle would be the airline with the most to lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CE_ugh Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 There is a plan for a state wide commuter rail, its called the Texas Triangle. It will go from Dallas to Houston to San Antonio and back up to Dallas. Thats from like 1988. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Thats from like 1988.Yeah, look at all the missing highways in the Houston area. I'm not impressed with some of the routes that they propose here. I'd prefer to see a route straight up the I-35 corridor from SA to Dallas, with the Houston-to-Dallas route passing through B-CS and merging with the I-35 corridor in Waco. Then, I'd almost rather see the Houston-to-SA route connect in Austin. Seems like that'd be more efficient.I still don't see it as a realistic scenario, unfortunately. There will always be airline money in politicians' pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 They better not spend a penny of Houston money on this.B/CS wants to be part of Greater Houston so bad they can taste it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcj0618 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 B/CS wants to be part of Greater Houston so bad they can taste it. That is so untrue - you make me laugh. And the original article says that B/CS officials were approached by Houston representatives of the rail project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Houston representatives I know it did, but don't kid yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 B/CS wants to be part of Greater Houston so bad they can taste it. This town is our town This town is so glamorous Bet you wish you lived here too And were one of us... you go-go, girl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcj0618 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I know it did, but don't kid yourself.I'm not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Why approach locals with this? Why not just farm it out to Amtrak? They have the trains. They know how to operate the business. They have all the middle management in place to make it happen. Why reinvent the wheel? Amtrak runs very successful commuter railroads in other parts of the country, in spite of its disasterous long-haul routes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Why not just farm it out to Amtrak? They have the trains. They know how to operate the business.I would seriously question whether they know how to operate the business. I took a look at their ridership numbers a few months back, and although I can't remember specifically what they were out of the Houston station, I remember being shocked at how poorly they were performing. They've also been in the red for ages...they're practically a branch of the federal government.They need to become more competitive with airlines. That means that they've got to lower prices, advertise, and cut down on the number of stops in small towns or find some other way to get from place to place more quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 I think you've totally hit it there. Amtrak's fatal flaw is that it has to stop in so many worthless towns. It should serve big cities to increase speed and ridership. But the problem is that Amtrak was part of the government for so long that the political process determined which towns would get stations. Now they're a burden. Of course, switching and sharing track with freight trains is also a problem. I take the commuter run from between Chicago and Saint Louis on occasion. It's just about a three-hour trip. 30 minutes of that time is spent looping around Saint Louis trying to avoid freight trains. Probably another 15 minutes is wasted the same way in Chicago. If Amtrak dropped six or seven of the smaller whistlestops they could save an additional 45 minutes. That would bring the trip to about 1:30. No airline can compete with downtown-to-downtown in 1:30.On routes where lots of stops are a good thing -- commuter routes in the Northeast, Pacific, and Midwest -- Amtrak does really well both in terms of ridership and money. But until it can cut down on the number of stops it makes in small towns in the heartland it will never be able to compete against the airlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I dont see this happening. I think it would make sense to have commuter rail up as far as Prarie View, Maybe....probably not. If there was a mega edge city development with office towers as far as hempstead, then it would make sense because there would actually be some people in B/CS who would actually need to ride the train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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