(The following story by Brad Rollins appeared on the San Marcos Mercury website on November 9, 2009.)
SAN MARCOS, Texas — The Lone Star Rail District, formerly the Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail District, announced it will begin seeking environmental clearance and deciding station locations for commuter train service between Georgetown and South San Antonio before the year’s end.
The next steps follow what commuter rail advocates call “significant milestones” reached in 2009, including the Legislature’s $182 million appropriation for the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund critical to rerouting Union Pacific freight traffic outside the corridor cities that comprise the rail district.
“We’re closer than we’ve ever been to offering travelers some independence from I-35 traffic. The pieces have been coming together in 2009, and we believe support from potential riders up and down the corridor is now critical to making passenger rail a reality for our region,” said State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, a San Antonio Republican whose district includes San Marcos and a rail district board member.
Rail district board members say the next step is to win federal approval for the project, a process that will include a series of public hearings on the a Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Impact Study. That process will also include pinpointing 16 proposed stops including one in San Marcos and one in the Kyle/Buda area.
“From the perspective of our students, faculty and staff, this corridor is one single region. We have faculty coming from Georgetown and from Boerne and up to 10,000 students commuting up and down this corridor. Having rail gives them a safe and predictable travel option and will help shape the choices they make about where to work and live,” said Dr. Denise M. Trauth, president of Texas State University, with campuses in both San Marcos and Round Rock.
In addition to the rail relocation funds, the Legislature budgeted $8.7 million for a regional rail system between Georgetown and San Antonio, which rail district officials said will go toward preliminary engineering and environmental studies. The rail district is also seeking funding from $8 billion designated for commuter rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly called the stimulus package.
The rail district and Union Pacific have struck an agreement to study the feasibility of moving through-freight traffic to a new line, making room for the commuter rail service. Lawmakers are expected to consider permanent funding for the rail relocation fund in the 2011 Legislative session, rail district officials said.
Re-branded LSTAR after an extensive marketing study completed this year, Central Texas Commuter Rail is envisioned as 110-mile route offering up to 12 trains a day, seven days a week, including 90-minute express service between downtown Austin and downtown San Antonio.