The kill-shot came abruptly and mercifully for the Lone Star Rail District (also known as LSTAR) on Monday night. After months of procedural dickering, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board spent less than 10 minutes discussing the matter before voting to remove from its long-range planning document the proposed passenger rail service […]
Lone Star Rail
A planned regional passenger train from San Marcos to Austin.
Posted inTransit
CAMPO meeting spells terminal trouble ahead for Lone Star Rail
The long-suffering effort to install passenger rail service between Austin and San Antonio could effectively be put to rest on Monday evening. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board of directors will likely vote to remove the Lone Star Rail District from its long-range plan, known as CAMPO 2040. The vote promises to be the […]
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO vote signals the oncoming end for Lone Star Rail
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization gave the Lone Star Rail District (LSTAR) an all but fatal kick in the caboose on Monday night. Members of the CAMPO Transportation Policy Board overwhelmingly voted to begin the process that will remove LSTAR from CAMPO’s long-range plan. The resolution also includes a request to the Texas Department […]
Posted inTransportation
Lonesome whistle blows for Lone Star Rail
An ailing effort to run passenger rail from the Austin area to San Antonio might only have two months left to live. On Monday night, the head of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board suggested that he would soon seek to take formal steps that would essentially shut down the Lone Star […]
Posted inTransportation
Lone Star Rail pulls into CAMPO meeting tonight
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is once again putting the Lone Star Rail District, or LSTAR, under the microscope on Monday evening. CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board is set to discuss recent moves that have been made to get the dream of passenger rail service between Georgetown and San Antonio back on track. The board […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Lone Star Rail
Lone Star Rail district director Joe Black joins Austin Monitor reporter Caleb Pritchard to talk about the future of the Lone Star Rail district and about whether, in fact, there is one. Sponsored by Austin Water. Post is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/259590891″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inTransit
Hays County uncouples from Lone Star Rail
After dodging a potential death blow on Monday night, the Lone Star Rail District took another hit on the chin on Tuesday. One day after the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization opted not to freeze its funding of LSTAR, the Hays County Commissioners Court voted to ditch the passenger rail planning effort. The measure on […]
Posted inTransportation
Lone Star Rail dodges “kill-shot” at CAMPO
The Lone Star Rail District survived what could have been a potentially fatal vote at the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board meeting on Monday night. A marathon discussion over LSTAR’s fate began when CAMPO Board Chair Will Conley offered a two-part resolution that would have asked the Texas Department of Transportation to […]
Posted inTransit
Potential train wreck ahead for Lone Star Rail
It could be the end of the line for the Lone Star Rail District. On Monday, the moribund commuter rail project could see its funding from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization frozen by that agency’s Transportation Policy Board. According to the board’s agenda, CAMPO staff is recommending that the agency essentially call a timeout […]
Posted inTransit
LSTAR troubles present another snag for Project Connect
Project Connect, the ambitious vision of a multimodal transportation future in Central Texas, hit a major pothole last week with Union Pacific’s decision to walk away from negotiations with the Lone Star Rail District. In a letter to the district, also known as LSTAR, Union Pacific canceled its agreements to continue exploring the feasibility of […]
Posted inTransit
Lone Star Rail hits major roadblock
A top official with the Lone Star Rail District, or LSTAR, said his agency will continue chugging along despite a serious setback that puts its fundamental mission in jeopardy. On Tuesday, Jerry Wilmoth, Union Pacific’s general manager of network infrastructure, sent a letter notifying LSTAR Chair Sid Covington that the freight rail giant had decided […]
Posted inTransit
Lone Star Rail not in city budget but still on track
Although there is no funding for the Lone Star Regional Rail Project in the proposed city budget, the Georgetown-to-San-Antonio passenger rail plan can still get up to speed in due time. Lone Star Rail District Rail Director Joe Black told the Austin Monitor on Monday that his organization is not overly concerned about the omission. […]