Austin, Texas Commuter Rail

[Matthew Roberts]

I am sort've surprised that with all of the coverage given to Nashville's commuter rail, there's no mention of the commuter rail plans for Austin, Texas, a similar sized city (Metro area ~1 million)!

Capital Metro - All Systems Go! - MetroRail

The plan is for the Downtown Austin to Leander segment of the AUAR-operated, CapMetro-owned line to be the first commuter rail line completed. The last Park & Ride station needed for the line, the new Leander station, is nearing completion, and the line is supposed to become operational in 2008.

I know from talking to a volunteer for the Austin Steam Train Association, that CapMetro is trying to obtain a FRA exemption for the DMUs that they plan to use on the line, that way the heavy rail freight operations can continue during the day. If they cannot, they are making provisions for running the freight at night-time, and installing four-arm crossing signals at grade crossings in preparation to make them "whistle-less" crossings.

That's most of what I know about the commuter rail.

- Matthew Roberts, a local railfan.

 

[George Harris]

Actually, the Nashville system did not get a lot of publicity, either. What got said on here was primarily due to a few people that had interests in or connections with Nashville following what happened there either by their web site or in person and then discussing it here.

Since I also have Texas connections, I am very interested in what happens in Austin as well. An additional off and on project is the Austin San Antonio passenger line. This includes the concept of the freight being moved to a new line east of the current railroad and urban corridor.