(The following article by Tony Hartzel was posted on the Dallas Morning News website on March 30.)
AUSTIN, Texas — A new $6 billion freight rail line stretching from North Texas to the Mexico border could be built in the next few years, according to a private proposal state leaders unveiled Wednesday.
The rail line, which would be the largest built anywhere in the U.S. in decades, is part of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor project, which would run roughly parallel to Interstate 35.
According to one Texas Department of Transportation estimate, a new freight rail line could remove 10,000 trucks a day from I-35.
“We have a plan to get more freight on rail and off the interstates,” said Texas Transportation Commission member Ted Houghton. “What’s driving this is trade. We have become a trade corridor for the Western Hemisphere.”
Cintra-Zachry, which submitted the proposal that was announced Wednesday, was picked last year to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The private company has proposed building 600 miles of double-track rail lines, all of it separated from existing roads either by bridges or underpasses.
Trains would travel at up to 70 mph on the new lines. Space would be preserved in the corridor for a future passenger rail line.
The proposal could have broad implications for North Texas. The new freight rail lines would help move trains and hazardous cargo out of urban areas and reduce air pollution.
Existing rail lines could be converted to mass transit use or for construction of new toll lanes.
For several years, North Texas leaders have worked on their own plans to ease freight rail congestion.
The Cintra-Zachry proposal reflects the region’s plans, which initially call for a rail bypass to the west of Fort Worth as well as a bypass around the south and east side of Dallas.
That has Dallas leaders excited about the possibilities for its proposed inland port facility in southeast Dallas.
“It can supercharge all of our efforts to do the inland port,” Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said.
The mayor added that the city is considering asking voters to support the inland port proposal in a November bond election.
“The fact that there will be a new rail line that would give us terrific access to Mexico comes at a great time for us,” she said.
Previous ideas for rail bypasses have included financial participation by railroad companies. But the Cintra-Zachry proposal would be financed mostly through user fees, Mr. Houghton said.
Federal and state financial tools and money from the state’s new rail relocation fund also could be used to pay for some of the rail line, state officials said.
Construction on the new rail line would not begin for several years. The state must first review the Cintra-Zachry proposal and then seek competing proposals.
Environmental approval for a specific project like the railroad proposal could take two to five years, meaning construction might not begin until 2009 to 2011.
Spokesmen for both Union Pacific and Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. withheld comment on the plan, saying the railroads had not seen the proposal.
The freight rail proposal illustrates how the Trans-Texas Corridor has laid the groundwork for individual projects other than toll roads, said Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission.
Under the corridor concept, the environmental reviews, route evaluations and other initial work involved in the toll road project approval also can be used to jump-start other projects such as rail lines and utility lines.
With each project leveraging the next one, “it becomes easier for a rail project proposer to see how a timeline would work in the corridor,” Mr. Williamson said. “If you do them one at a time, it’s like stacking dominoes.”
The Texas proposals have gotten attention nationally and internationally, as shown by Madrid-based Cintra’s extensive involvement.
While it’s too early to say whether projects like the Trans-Texas Corridor are the wave of the future, the nation’s transportation industry is expected to undergo some significant changes, said Cherian George, managing director of the transportation group at Fitch Ratings, a New York firm that evaluates proposals for financial markets.
“To the extent the project is viable and will be completed, it reflects a significant improvement in the ability to transport goods,” he said. “That’s clearly an issue around the country. There’s definitely a synergy to having a streamlined corridor rather than having to navigate existing infrastructure.”
Supporters of new passenger rail service in Texas’ major cities also were encouraged by the Cintra-Zachry plan.
“If you bring on freight first, passenger rail can definitely follow,” said Peter LeCody, president of Texas Rail Advocates. “We’re real happy about it.”