beautifulplanet
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As I was not able to find a real discussion thread about the Lone Star commuter rail project in Texas, except for a short one from years and years ago, a new one is started here, in case that is not adequate, please move or delete.
Since back in 2000, the citizens of San Antonio voted down a proposed light rail system, to many it might have seemed like that for decades to come, the only rail service the city of San Antonio will see, will be the daily Amtrak service to Chicago, or thrice-weekly Amtrak service towards Los Angeles and New Orleans.
For illustration, here is a link to a map of the proposed light rail system that was voted down in 2000:
http://www.lightrail.com/maps/sanantonio/sanantonio.htm
Meanwhile in 2014, there is a very concrete, promising attempt to build a streetcar system in San Antonio, which is generating much public discussion - while at the same time, the Lone Star commuter rail project that seems to move forward very quickly, seems to receive comparatively less attention. Some might think this project also would be worth it to dedicate a little attention to, especially seeing how much progress already happened in the last years.
Quoting from the Lone Star Rail District's website, here is what kind of rail service it should be:
Here is the proposed map of service, taken directly from the Lone Star Rail District's website:
Source: http://lonestarrail.com/index.php/lstar/map/
Last year, an interesting chain of events could be observed in the system's most northern city served, beautiful Georgetown, Texas.
After 6 years of being a member in the Lone Star Rail District, at its June 25 meeting, the Georgetown city council decided to leave the district.
But after a lot of feedback from the community, at its September 10 meeting, the decision was reversed, with mayor and city council voting for rejoining the Lone Star Rail district, just two and a half months later.
The following TV news report shows how the citizens showed up at the September 10 city council meeting, and the large majority of them passionately spoke in favor of rail to Georgetown:
Georgetown back on board with rail project
by KRIS BETTS / KVUE News and photojournalist DATHAN HULL
Posted on September 10, 2013 at 10:38 PM
Updated Wednesday, Sep 11 at 10:11 AM
http://www.kvue.com/news/Georgetown-back-on-board-rail-project-through-Austin-to-San-Antonio-223234971.html
Since summer of last year, the Lone Star Rail District was able to come to prelimiary agreements both with the city of Austin, and with the city of San Marcus, about possible local funding for the rail line.
The following TV news report is about most recently, the city of Kyle also signed on of those agreements:
Rail project funding accelerates to connect Austin and San Antonio
By Amanda Brandeis
Updated: Thursday, May 22, 2014, 6:03 am
Published: Wednesday, May 21, 2014, 11:04 am
http://kxan.com/2014/05/21/lone-star-rail-securing-local-funds/
The next step seems to be to conduct an environmental study, which is reported to start later this year.
Press reports repeatedly mention that trains could start rolling in five to seven years if everything goes perfect, which - some might think - might mean that realistically it is probably going to take longer than that.
No matter what the exact number of years until service begins may be, many might continue to follow or possibly even support the development of this new passenger rail service, as it might have such a positive effect on all the cities served, and the metro regions of San Antonio and Austin as a whole as well as the corridor inbetween.
Since back in 2000, the citizens of San Antonio voted down a proposed light rail system, to many it might have seemed like that for decades to come, the only rail service the city of San Antonio will see, will be the daily Amtrak service to Chicago, or thrice-weekly Amtrak service towards Los Angeles and New Orleans.
For illustration, here is a link to a map of the proposed light rail system that was voted down in 2000:
http://www.lightrail.com/maps/sanantonio/sanantonio.htm
Meanwhile in 2014, there is a very concrete, promising attempt to build a streetcar system in San Antonio, which is generating much public discussion - while at the same time, the Lone Star commuter rail project that seems to move forward very quickly, seems to receive comparatively less attention. Some might think this project also would be worth it to dedicate a little attention to, especially seeing how much progress already happened in the last years.
Quoting from the Lone Star Rail District's website, here is what kind of rail service it should be:
To be able to provide the passenger rail service on the current Union Pacific line, the freight service is supposed to be moved onto new tracks to be built east of the current corridor - which seems to create a double benefit: the passenger rail operations have the corridor (at least mostly) to themselves, enabling reliable operations, and freight rail moves reliably on new tracks, while the downtowns will be relieved off of the freight rail traffic going through them, which is especially important for transit oriented development around the stations.Plans provide for LSTAR's full service schedule to include:
- Up to 32 trains a day, including midday and evening service, 7 days a week in each direction for commuters, students and other regional travelers.
- Modern, safe, clean and comfortable passenger cars with amenities including wireless Internet access.
- 75-minute express service from downtown Austin to downtown San Antonio, with stops in San Marcos and New Braunfels.
- Local service from Georgetown to the South Side of San Antonio with stops at all stations in between.
- Up to sixteen new stations in convenient locations with ample secure parking, comfortable waiting areas and connections to local transit.
Here is the proposed map of service, taken directly from the Lone Star Rail District's website:
Source: http://lonestarrail.com/index.php/lstar/map/
Last year, an interesting chain of events could be observed in the system's most northern city served, beautiful Georgetown, Texas.
After 6 years of being a member in the Lone Star Rail District, at its June 25 meeting, the Georgetown city council decided to leave the district.
But after a lot of feedback from the community, at its September 10 meeting, the decision was reversed, with mayor and city council voting for rejoining the Lone Star Rail district, just two and a half months later.
The following TV news report shows how the citizens showed up at the September 10 city council meeting, and the large majority of them passionately spoke in favor of rail to Georgetown:
Georgetown back on board with rail project
by KRIS BETTS / KVUE News and photojournalist DATHAN HULL
Posted on September 10, 2013 at 10:38 PM
Updated Wednesday, Sep 11 at 10:11 AM
http://www.kvue.com/news/Georgetown-back-on-board-rail-project-through-Austin-to-San-Antonio-223234971.html
Since summer of last year, the Lone Star Rail District was able to come to prelimiary agreements both with the city of Austin, and with the city of San Marcus, about possible local funding for the rail line.
The following TV news report is about most recently, the city of Kyle also signed on of those agreements:
Rail project funding accelerates to connect Austin and San Antonio
By Amanda Brandeis
Updated: Thursday, May 22, 2014, 6:03 am
Published: Wednesday, May 21, 2014, 11:04 am
http://kxan.com/2014/05/21/lone-star-rail-securing-local-funds/
The next step seems to be to conduct an environmental study, which is reported to start later this year.
Press reports repeatedly mention that trains could start rolling in five to seven years if everything goes perfect, which - some might think - might mean that realistically it is probably going to take longer than that.
No matter what the exact number of years until service begins may be, many might continue to follow or possibly even support the development of this new passenger rail service, as it might have such a positive effect on all the cities served, and the metro regions of San Antonio and Austin as a whole as well as the corridor inbetween.
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