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In the late 1990s, TxDOT, the Austin and San Antonio Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and the Austin and San Antonio transit authorities formed a regional partnership to fund and manage a feasibility study of passenger rail service on the existing Union Pacific freight line that parallels I-35 between Georgetown and San Antonio.
The Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail Study, Feasibility Report, March 1999, concluded that a commuter rail system between Georgetown and San Antonio is technically and financially feasible. The study provided basic information on the proposed passenger rail system such as ridership forecasts, capital costs, rail operation costs and revenues, passenger stations and intermodal connections, financing scenarios, and Union Pacific freight demand and possible routes for relocating freight traffic.
The Austin-San Antonio Commuter Rail Study, Final Report, July 1999, was a follow-up report to the Feasibility Report and provided additional data on the alternatives analysis as well as numerous technical appendices in support of the feasibility study’s findings.
Both reports are available at TxDOT.
The Austin-San Antonio Rail District is currently updating key elements of the 1999 Feasibility Study, such as ridership forecasts and economic development analyses. Although every aspect of the original study will be re-evaluated, the updated elements will be used in upcoming planning tasks, preparation of the environmental document, and coordination efforts with Federal and regional partners.