A federally funded study of passenger rail service between Oklahoma City and South Texas has cleared the first hurdle, but it doesn’t mean that fast trains on the I-35 corridor will be running in the near future. The Federal Railroad Administration released its Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for the Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study and deemed the three-section project “feasible.” The problem for travelers in Texas and Oklahoma is that no funding has been identified to advance the project.
The service-level study, a conceptual look at alignments, now advances to the next phase allowing for continued exploration of the proposed route. The $7 million study covers an 850-mile corridor broken into three segments going from Oklahoma City to Dallas-Fort Worth; Dallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio; and San Antonio to South Texas.
“While the release of the Tier I Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is welcome news, funding of the next step, a project-level soup to nuts determination before building the line is very problematic," according to Texas Rail Advocates President Peter LeCody.
“The Texas Department of Transportation has no funds to move this sorely needed rail corridor project forward,” said LeCody. “The state legislature has deemed not to invest a single penny in moving people by passenger rail. With more and more people moving to Texas and traveling in the I-35 corridor, the future needs of transportation by rail must be addressed in the next session. Studies prove that a majority of the public wants passenger rail service, but we continue to only pour more concrete and asphalt to satisfy our transportation thirst. If it wasn’t for some small federal grants, we wouldn’t even have this first step.”
Following phases of public input and environmental considerations, the latest phase of the study determined passenger rail service up to 220 mph between Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio is feasible. It also determined passenger rail service from San Antonio through Laredo to Monterrey, Mexico could be feasible. The study also revealed the possibility of having passenger rail service traveling up to 125 mph from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley and improved Amtrak-type service between Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.
“Now is the time for everyone in or close to the I-35 corridor to join with Texas Rail Advocates in ramping up the conversation for fast, dependable passenger rail service," said TRA Executive Director Chris Lippincott. “The federal government only gives you a five year grace period to move the Tier I study to a project level program and prepare to build out the line. This may be the only opportunity in our generation to bring traffic relief to the I-35 corridor by adding passenger trains to the mix.”
The next step would be a project-level environmental study to determine actual routes and environmental impacts of the service before construction and start of service. At that point, a private developer could step forward to determine future project possibilities or the state legislature could step forward to participate in a funding scenario as many other states have done.
“State and federal policymakers should make sure every responsible option is on the table for developing passenger rail service along this important corridor. Private sector investment in construction and operation may become available as this project moves forward, and we need to be ready to embrace that support,” Lippincott said.
