Lone Star Rail project derailed?

Project's website ‘down for maintenance'

SAN ANTONIO – In February Union Pacific announced it had pulled out of the Lone Star Rail project. Since then it appears that plans to get a rail line between San Antonio and Austin may have come to a screeching halt.

On Thursday, KSAT-12 checked the Lone Star Rail District's website several times, only to find it was "undergoing maintenance."

The district said,

We’re in the process of a redesign and moving it to a new content management system, and we’re updating the content to reflect the current situation with Union Pacific and the new alternatives presented by the Rail District last week at its board meeting. It should be back up within a day or so.

Kevin Wolff, Bexar County Commissioner and a member of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, said the plan was to alleviate the traffic on Interstate 35.

"I think everybody agrees that some sort of rail project between here and Austin is a great idea," said Wolff. "But, the problem is how we've gone about it for the last 20 years obviously isn't working."

Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff said more than $30 million has been spent over the last 20 years and the Lone Star Rail District is nowhere closer to having a solution than it was two decades ago.

"You're talking a multi-billion system here," said Wolff. "They've utilized those folks and resources to try and attract the capital dollar to actually build a system and they just haven't been successful at it."

Bexar County initially put up $500,000, but pulled back when it heard about Union Pacific.

Now that the proposed rail line "is not happening" with Union Pacific. Wolff said the district needs to step back to square one.

"Let’s have our board," said Wolff. "Let them (Lone Star Rail District) be the planning organization that determines what would be the best route and if and when dollars are secured, we let TX DOT be the operator. They already have that infrastructure in place, they already have engineers and contractors that can do that type of work."

The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization plans on meeting in June to determine whether or not it is going to continue to put money in the project as it is now.


About the Author:

Stephanie Serna is a weekday anchor on Good Morning San Antonio and GMSA at 9 a.m. She joined the KSAT 12 News team in November 2009 as a general assignments reporter.