News

December 12, 2008

Media contact: John Egan
Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations
512-472-9599
jegan@echristianpr.com

AUSTIN, Texas—The Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association strongly supports a recommendation approved Dec. 16 by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission calling for a new division within the Texas Department of Transportation that would oversee rail funding and rail projects across the state.

“Transportation in Texas is about much more than just roads. Rail must be a key component of solutions to the various transportation challenges facing the Lone Star State,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, co-chairman of the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association, said. “That’s why it’s crucial that a division be established within TxDOT to focus on passenger and freight rail as a complement to roads.”

Among the states that already have rail agencies are California, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia.

"A rail division within TxDOT would be responsible for assuring that passenger and freight rail become an integral part of the transportation system for Texas,” Bruce Todd, executive director of the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association, said. “So far, the State of Texas has not adequately emphasized the role of passenger and freight rail as a major piece of our state’s transportation plan.”

In early December, the Rail Relocation and Improvement Association, a statewide coalition of transportation advocates, kicked off its Rail Relo NOW! campaign. The campaign seeks to secure funds for improvement of the state’s transportation system by relocating freight rail lines away from densely populated urban areas throughout Texas. Texas has more miles of rail than any other state.

During the Texas Legislature’s 2009 session, which starts in January, the coalition will recommend various options for funding that would enable relocation and improvement of freight rail lines around the state. The funding would create a revenue stream that could leverage billions of dollars in bonding authority to:

--Improve transportation safety.

--Ease traffic congestion at hundreds of railroad crossings around the state.

--Increase the capacity of the state’s freight rail network.

--Shift more of the state’s ever-growing truck freight load to improved rail lines.

--Open up existing freight lines for passenger rail.

Texas voters already have passed a constitutional amendment establishing the Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund to finance relocation and improvement projects. However, even though the amendment was approved in 2005, state lawmakers have not yet dedicated any money for the fund.

For more information, visit www.railrelo.org.

About the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association
The Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association is a statewide coalition of municipal, county and state elected officials, as well as groups and concerned Texans, who are interested in improving transportation throughout the state. Rail Relo NOW! is an initiative of the association aimed at obtaining state funding for relocation and improvement of freight rail lines around Texas.