Tag Archives: commuter rail

More concerns about the high speed rail route

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some people who live not far from me are not very happy about the high speed rail line possibly running through their neighborhood. The prospect of a high-speed train crossing through First Ward into downtown Houston has residents scrambling to … Continue reading →

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The Woodlands wants to be on the high speed rail route

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t blame ’em. The Woodlands Township is urging federal and state officials to take another look at the potential benefits of adding a high-speed rail corridor along Interstate 45. Last month, the Federal Railway Administration and the Texas Department of … Continue reading →

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Bringing the high speed rail line downtown

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Building that high speed rail line from Dallas to Houston is one thing. Bringing it to a centrally-located terminal is another. Plans for a high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas are moving relatively quickly beyond a recent initial round … Continue reading →

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Time to comment on the proposed high speed rail routes

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Check ’em out, and tell ’em what you think. Observers have long known that only a few options were available for the route of the privately funded high-speed train line between Houston and Dallas. Now a firmer picture of where … Continue reading →

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No one gets to dictate that the Uptown line must be BRT forever

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

So as we know, the Uptown line is moving ahead as BRT. It will be paid for with a variety of funds, coming from the city, from an Uptown/Memorial TIRZ, from grants, and so forth. A key component of this … Continue reading →

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The downside to downtown’s boom

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

More traffic, less parking, and lots of construction. Where have we heard those complaints before? Construction crews are clearing city blocks once dedicated to surface parking, readying the sites for multistory office buildings, hotels and residential towers. Adjacent sidewalks and … Continue reading →

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Bringing commuter rail into downtown

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From The Highwayman: As has been reported, the Gulf Coast Rail District is studying the best possible routes for commuter rail in the Houston area, and one of the biggest challenges is bringing the trains into downtown. From the looks … Continue reading →

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Commuter rail status

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still a push for commuter rail in Houston. With freight trains on Houston area tracks teeming with cargo, supporters of commuter rail to the suburbs are focusing on three spots where they can potentially build their own lines for … Continue reading →

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The Dallas and Houston rail experiences

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s useful to compare, but mostly as an academic exercise. The new Dallas Area Rapid Transit line links riders to the region’s major airport. Houston’s new Purple and Green lines, years in the making, come up far short of what’s … Continue reading →

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Medical Center mobility

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The problems they face today pale in comparison to the problems they will face in the future. Already the world’s largest medical complex, the Texas Medical Center is poised to get much bigger, prompting a raft of ideas ranging from … Continue reading →

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Conroe is growing up

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Conroe native Jay Ross Martin says he never imagined his rural hometown in the piney woods developing bustling retail centers, a thriving housing market and a population that’s more than doubled in the past 20 years. The … Continue reading →

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Houston-Austin rail update

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Tomorrow: The Texas Department of Transportation is planning to fund environmental and financial feasibility studies for a passenger rail line connecting Houston to Austin, according to the Texas Tribune and KUT Austin. The planned line would be a 110mph … Continue reading →

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Galveston passenger rail back on track

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry about the pun, they can be hard to avoid when writing these titles. Anyway, the on-again, off-again Houston to Galveston rail line is apparently on again. A Houston-to-Galveston passenger rail line postponed indefinitely after the economy hit bottom in … Continue reading →

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Open house meetings for US90A/Southwest Rail Corridor project

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From Metro: The New METRO is continuing work on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the US90A/Southwest Rail Corridor Project with meetings to inform the public about alternatives that will be considered as part of this federal process. The … Continue reading →

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It’s Super-Commuter!

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You think you have a long drive to work? Ben Wear writes about a study of people who take it to the extreme. The researchers define a supercommuter as someone who works in the central county of a metropolitan area … Continue reading →

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Tomball toll road

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

They want a toll road in Tomball, and they’re probably going to get it. The Harris County Toll Road Authority is asking that it be allowed to look at State Highway 249, also known as Tomball Parkway, to see whether … Continue reading →

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Another Lone Star Rail update

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Statesman: Commuter rail between San Antonio and Georgetown, at least as a legislatively sanctioned policy goal, will have its 15th birthday this spring. The tiny government agency created later to make it a reality is almost 9 years … Continue reading →

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Houston-Austin rail study

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Houston Tomorrow: The Texas Department of Transportation presented results from a study on the potential for new 110 mph passenger rail service between Houston and Austin, potentially connecting College Station, according to Guidry News and documented in the minutes of the December … Continue reading →

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I-45 again

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I went to the open house for I-45 on Tuesday night to see what was going on, since we didn’t have much information about what the current state of TxDOT’s thinking is about this. Apparently, there isn’t a set plan … Continue reading →

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Hempstead commuter rail update

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a look at how commuter rail along 290 might work. Commuter trains from Hempstead to Houston could start running by 2019 if the Gulf Coast Rail District can secure $300 million and if Union Pacific Railroad lets passenger cars … Continue reading →

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How would you spend $350 million of TxDOT’s money?

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

David Crossley would like to know. Let’s say you found $350 million to do a great transportation project for the Houston region. Would you use it to build a 400-foot-wide, 15-mile-long segment of brand-new highway across the Katy Prairie wetlands … Continue reading →

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The Austin rail debate

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The city of Austin is gearing up for another debate about how and where – and if – to build more rail there. This is the third time since 2000 that they’ve gone through such a debate. This AusChron story … Continue reading →

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More on Metro’s rail to Fort Bend plan

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a story from the first of the public meetings Metro is holding on the proposed US90A rail line to Fort Bend. Planners of a proposed project to extend light rail service from Houston to Missouri City are hopeful about … Continue reading →

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More on the Lone Star Rail District

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The following comment was left on my earlier post about the Lone Star Rail District and its efforts to build a rail line between Austin and San Antonio, and I thought it was worth highlighting: LSTAR is actually much further … Continue reading →

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San Antonio still in for Austin rail line

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them the very best of luck with this. San Antonio officials will continue to pursue a passenger rail line that one day could connect the Alamo City to Austin, a transit project that’s already been in the works … Continue reading →

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Metro seeks input for commuter rail line to Fort Bend

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Metro is taking another step forward on the commuter rail line along US 90A to Fort Bend County that was part of the 2003 Metro Solutions referendum. Kimberly Slaughter, Senior Vice President of Service Design & Development for Metro, unveiled … Continue reading →

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Department of rail-related corrections

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Council Member Sue Lovell writes a letter disputing certain aspects of the recent story about Galveston commuter rail being off track. Barry Goodman blames lack of a regional transportation policy as a big obstacle. The eight-county transportation planning region represented … Continue reading →

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Galveston commuter rail project off track

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Bummer. A depressed economy and a budget-cutting political climate have indefinitely delayed a proposed Houston-Galveston passenger rail line, a project that could have been under construction by now according to earlier predictions. Despite strong support from governments in Galveston County, … Continue reading →

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A more suburban Metro?

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Another possible feature of the Census data, of which I had not been previously aware, could be characterized as Metro redistricting. The city of Houston could lose its majority control of the Metro board if the 2010 Census shows that … Continue reading →

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NPR on LRT

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Nice story on NPR about the expansion of light rail around the country. Pretty much everywhere you look in large urban areas, there’s light rail, construction of light rail, or plans for light rail. Couple of points from the story … Continue reading →

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You need more than more miles to get more riders

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The new 28-mile Green Line in Dallas has begun full service, and it is expected to add about 30,000 daily boardings, bringing DART’s total rail ridership to about 90,000 per day. That’s for 72 miles of rail lines, which is … Continue reading →

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Sugar Land contemplates its transportation options

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Via Houston Tomorrow, here’s an interesting story about how Sugar Land is thinking about the effect of the planned baseball stadium and Imperial Sugar Mill redevelopment on traffic. Both projects mean this older part of Sugar Land is likely to … Continue reading →

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Commuter rail along US 90A

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an update on a piece of the 2003 Metro Solutions referendum that has been largely quiescent till now, the proposed commuter rail line from the Fannin South station to Fort Bend County. Though efforts soon stalled after a 2003 … Continue reading →

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DART reverses course, will keep building

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Back in June, Dallas Area Rapid Transit presented a 20-year financial plan that said it could no longer afford to build several new light rail lines that it had intended to do. Now it’s got an updated projection that says … Continue reading →

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