(The following editorial by David Hendricks was posted on the San Antonio Express-News website on February 5.)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The new Bexar County Rail District could become quite useful after it fulfills its initial duty, which is to get Toyota Motor Corp. access to a second railroad carrier at the proposed South Bexar County auto assembly plant site.
The district’s board is working intently on building a rail spur so that Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad can serve the Toyota site along with Union Pacific, which already has tracks at the site, said Bruce Flohr, the district board chairman.
Once the rail spur is built, Flohr said, the board could help keep rail carriers like Union Pacific and Burlington Northern from abandoning little-used rail lines in the area. Railroads have had a nasty habit of tearing up or abandoning railroad tracks to avoid paying property taxes.
That naturally frustrates economic development efforts because it eliminates the possibility of future industrial sites where those tracks ran.
That’s one reason state law authorizing rail districts was strengthened six years ago, so that Texas counties could fight the railroads on that issue. So far, Texas has about 25 rail districts covering 70 counties.
The Union Pacific track from San Antonio to Corpus Christi is an example. That track sees only about two trains a day, Flohr said.
Ironically, this is the same track that goes by the proposed Toyota site. Once Toyota builds its plant, traffic between the plant and San Antonio probably would increase. But the section between the assembly plant and Corpus Christi might remain little used.
But Community Rail Development Corp., a Fort Worth-area consulting firm hired by the new Bexar rail district, has a vision that would make better use of the track. It could be one leg of a “Golden Trade Triangle” linking San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Laredo by rail.
The triangle would use transportation assets to alleviate congestion at the Port of Houston and truck gridlock in Laredo, said John Helsley, president of Community Rail Development Corp.
“This could be (a) regional approach in economic development,” Helsley said one that would strengthen a possible emerging industrial region of South Texas and North Mexico through better logistics.
Helsley cites the synergies that could add up when the Port of Corpus Christi is better linked to Laredo and the inland port in San Antonio, with its air, highway and rail access.
If the Port of Corpus Christi can reach its goal of opening an ocean container port on the north shore of the bay in a few years, the need for freight services will zoom dramatically in South Texas.
The “Golden Trade Triangle” is still a far-off dream, but the key will be to establish rail districts at the three corners, since rail districts can work together on the concept better than coordinating city and county governments.
Besides, as subdivisions of the state, rail districts have powers that counties and cities lack in dealing with railroad carriers.
“Rail districts are the ones that can stand toe-to-toe with the railroads,” Helsley said.
Nueces and Bexar counties have new rail districts, Helsley said, and Webb County is considering forming one soon. That would form the basis for the triangle.
“When Webb County appoints a rail district board, then we will try to have a symposium as a kind of get-acquainted event so that district directors from all three cities can exchange information about the strong points in their areas,” Helsley said.
If it comes together, the “Golden Trade Triangle” could be marketed with a single point of sale and a single bill for sea dock unloading, train transportation and customs services, for example.
The pendulum between shippers relying on trucks vs. rail is swinging in favor of rail, Helsley said, as trucking costs rise with insurance premiums, fuel prices and driver wages.
Meanwhile, North American Free Trade Agreement freight volumes are increasing 17 percent a year and need new ways to move.
The Bexar County Rail District may have been created for a single and immediate purpose, but trends may ensure its continued existence.