Philly Amtrak Fan
Engineer
According to NARP 2014 data (http://www.narprail.org/site/assets/files/1038/trains_2014.pdf),
There are over 4 million people living within 25 miles of the Dallas, TX station but ridership at the station was just 49,446.
There are over 4 million people living within 25 miles of the Houston, TX station but ridership at the station was just 20,108.
Lack of trains is a problem. The Dallas station has just one daily train while Houston has one 3x/week train. By contrast, Washington had over 4 million riders. Now Washington is in the NEC with many large markets close to them. I wouldn't expect there to be as much service in Dallas or Houston as there is in DC but I would think there should be many more trains in the state of Texas. I look at Texas and see three large markets, the Texas Triangle of Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, and think the three cities are close enough that train service between the three cities should be popular if they had more frequent service (currently 1x/day for DAL-SAS, 3x/week for SAS-HOS, and NOTHING for DAL-HOS). You want to travel from DAL to HOS? Go through SAS and stay overnight. Are you kidding me? In addition to the three large markets, you also have to consider Austin which is not only a good size market but is home to the University of Texas and there are many examples of trains being popular to college students. In addition the last time there actually was DAL-HOS service the route also served College Station-Bryan, TX near Texas A&M (http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19941030n&item=0031). I can't figure out why this route was even cut. I can't believe it wasn't popular.
Now any new service would have to be subsidized by the state of Texas. You may think that Texas won't pay for trains but Texas does help pay for the Heartland Flyer. I don't see why Texas DOT would pay for a train from Ft. Worth (not even Dallas) but not in-state trains between the Texas Triangle cities. I'd imagine the Heartland Flyer is more for passengers from Oklahoma to visit Texas than the other way around.
There are over 4 million people living within 25 miles of the Dallas, TX station but ridership at the station was just 49,446.
There are over 4 million people living within 25 miles of the Houston, TX station but ridership at the station was just 20,108.
Lack of trains is a problem. The Dallas station has just one daily train while Houston has one 3x/week train. By contrast, Washington had over 4 million riders. Now Washington is in the NEC with many large markets close to them. I wouldn't expect there to be as much service in Dallas or Houston as there is in DC but I would think there should be many more trains in the state of Texas. I look at Texas and see three large markets, the Texas Triangle of Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, and think the three cities are close enough that train service between the three cities should be popular if they had more frequent service (currently 1x/day for DAL-SAS, 3x/week for SAS-HOS, and NOTHING for DAL-HOS). You want to travel from DAL to HOS? Go through SAS and stay overnight. Are you kidding me? In addition to the three large markets, you also have to consider Austin which is not only a good size market but is home to the University of Texas and there are many examples of trains being popular to college students. In addition the last time there actually was DAL-HOS service the route also served College Station-Bryan, TX near Texas A&M (http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19941030n&item=0031). I can't figure out why this route was even cut. I can't believe it wasn't popular.
Now any new service would have to be subsidized by the state of Texas. You may think that Texas won't pay for trains but Texas does help pay for the Heartland Flyer. I don't see why Texas DOT would pay for a train from Ft. Worth (not even Dallas) but not in-state trains between the Texas Triangle cities. I'd imagine the Heartland Flyer is more for passengers from Oklahoma to visit Texas than the other way around.