TxDOT rail plan and the Texas panhandle

[Llano]

I was surprised to see that out of eight or nine cities in Texas where they were holding meetings open to the public, Lubbock was one of them. I really figured it would have more to do with freight than passenger rail but since passenger rail was on the announced agenda, I went. I knew that the Caprock Express idea had already come and gone in these parts, nothing came of it and most had given up on it. But I went if for no other reason than to express my dismay that one has to travel a minimum 300 miles to get to an Amtrak station from Lubbock (Fort Worth, Albuquerque or San Antonio, depending on what route you want).

To my shocked delight, service to this part of Texas is something both Amtrak and TxDOT are looking at. I have no illusions, this is not their first priority, the populous areas in Texas (DFW, Houston, Austin-San Antonio) are where the action is. But we are not out of the loop either. Lubbock and Texas Tech have continued to grow, there are reasons for Amtrak to venture toward the panhandle and for some reason El Paso wants a connection to Lubbock. I wish I'd gotten more info about the El Paso - Lubbock connection but I will get it in the next couple of days. They did mention the Caprock Express also, but whatever focus there is on this seems to be more directed to inter-Texas connections. There is also talk that Amtrak is considering rerouting the Sunset Limited through Abilene and Midland-Odessa.

But the message for now to any who may be in the panhandle area is: have hope. It might happen after all.

 

[hippyman]

This is great to hear!!! I live up in Texhoma, and the main reason I dont take the train that often, is b/c of the long drive u have to take just to get to a station. Is there any chance of Amtrak coming thru texhoma?

 

[Gratt]

Caprock! That is awesome, it is nice someone is talking about it, but if I know my home state Amtrak is not high on their agenda. Though if they were to do it right they would start from San Antonio and go all the way up to Denver, a lot of Texans go for vacation in Denver with kids and skiing equipment Amtrak would be an appealing option to them.

As for Limited to Abilene, how exactly would that work unless it goes up the way of the Eagle till Fort Worth.

Again, I would love for it to happen, but unless Texas and TXDOT create something like Amtrak California or Illinois service for our great state I dont see it in the near future.

 

[hippyman]

If they really wanted to do it right, they'd extend the Denver line no to Vegas, idk how many times a year I make that drive thru Amarillo.

 

[Llano]

Wow, I didn't expect so much response, at least not this quick!

I don't know if I want to get my hopes up about the Caprock Express - I was just encouraged that they are serious enough that they actually came to Lubbock and made the presentation. But they *did* mention the Caprock Express by name and it does show up in the draft of the TxDOT report drawn up very recently on passenger rail in Texas. It's only like two sentences out of 80 pages but that tells me the idea isn't dead. Hippyman, as you probably know, that route goes through Boise CIty - 57 miles from Texhoma on my map - me, I'd be happy for a train that goes through Amarillo or Abilene or Midland. 100+ miles is still better than 300. And Gratt, it doesn't make complete sense to me yet but that's also in the draft, I think they are talking about cutting out San Antonio and going through DFW and on to Abilene, Midland-Odessa then on to El Paso. Without looking at the route map it seems to me to make more sense if the Texas Eagle did that but I don't care who does it, if they would actually DO IT! I'm sure the other one would still serve San Antonio and the two routes would then join up in El Paso.

Before I forget, here's the draft. I doubt anything will happen for a few years if it's going to happen.

They said there will be another meeting in the fall when they start to finalize their plans.

I don't know if you all knew this but in case you don't, they have a comment page - if anyone uses it nad hears back, please let me know what they said!

 

[Llano]

I don't know how clear that was (sorry , it's late), both the draft and the comment page I linked refer to the rail plan by TxDOT. I wish someone representing Amtrak had been at the meeting but they weren't. I'm thinking I will find a way to tell Amtrak what I told TxDOT.

One very interesting thing they said was that they've found that city and state officials in the past protested that no one was interested in trains - until they got some going, like the Texas Eagle and the Heartland Flyer - and then they found that enough people do like them after all...