Today let’s look at the next branch of the Texas High-Speed Rail main lines: the Capital Corridor. This connection, running from San Antonio to Austin, offers one of the best opportunities for regional rail as a precursor to a state-wide high-speed system.

This segment marks the second leg of the mini-triangle alignment that we’ve looked at, following the Brazos Corridor. The next post will look at North Texas, and after that we’ll tie the branches together using the mini-triangle.

For readers from Austin or San Antonio who don’t regularly follow the blog, I encourage you to read through the entire series to see the previous assumptions that this post is building upon. A condensed summary of these is as follows:

I’m imagining an ideal system, not trying to compromise for the easiest implementation. If it came time to really build a system I’m sure that certain compromises would have to be made along the way, but when you’re starting out with an idea it’s best to visualize the ideal condition, then get as close to it as you can when you’re implementing the idea.

I’m trying to sketch a concept for a system that could be privately owned and operated. This is one of the biggest differences between my concept and most others you’ll see. There are two important ramifications that come as a result of imagining a private system.

• First, the system would need to grow in small increments over time rather than being built all at once. When possible the routes should begin as regional commuter rail designed to make the operation of overlapping inter-city rail possible in the future.
• Second, one of the top priorities is to steer the routes toward transit-oriented development opportunities. A private rail operator would make a lot of their profit by developing new towns and/or major infill projects between key destinations on the rail line. This revenue helps to quickly pay down the capital cost of the tracks AND creates increased demand, thus improving the companies operating margin.

I’m imagining a system that can out-perform automobiles. Offering superior service and attracting large volumes of riders is the only real way a private rail operator could exist. As part of imagining a system that could out-perform the automobile, I’ve picked a new rail technology developed by American Maglev as the basis of this concept. The AMT system operates on all-elevated tracks that can fit inside most rights-of-way, so it can be fit into the urban core of cities fairly easily by running over existing streets. I’m not arguing that AMT’s system is the only good option for Texas, merely that it is one possible option that I happen to like.

With all that in mind, here’s the alignment for Central Texas:

The route starts in Downtown San Antonio, ideally somewhere on the east side of Downtown in proximity to the existing Amtrak Station, the Alamodome, the Riverwalk and the Alamo. From there it heads north parallel to SH-281 and heads to the San Antonio Airport. In between there should be a regional service station in the Alamo Heights / Trinity U. area, but I’m not sure exactly where the idea station location would be. Folks from San Antonio are strongly encouraged to chime-in on that one.

From San Antonio Airport the line heads east to I-35, then runs northeast towards New Braunfels (with two regional service stations in between). The main line would have stops at New Braunfels and San Marcos, then continue in to Downtown Austin. Regional service trains would also stop at Kyle, Buda, and in the vicinity of William Canon and Saint Edwards’ U. in South Austin.

In Austin the most challenging part would be finding an alignment through Downtown. I suspect that between Saint Edwards and somewhere around 30th St. the rail would need to run in a tunnel to get under Lady Bird Lake and through Downtown. In central Austin the major stations would logically be near the Convention Center (to tie into the new commuter rail line), and near UT.

From Central Austin there would be a major hub in the vicinity of Highland Mall, and the initial rail phase would head East from there toward Manor along US-290.

This configuration hits many of the major destinations in Central Texas, and provides excellent commuter service in the rapidly developing I-35 and 290 corridors. While this doesn’t cover all the ground that a fully built-out system would, it does function as the main line for overlapping regional and intercity service.

The ever important question is, how fast would this be? As I’m less certain of the alignment here than I am for Houston, I’m not going to produce the same kind of detailed station to station travel times. However, express service would likely travel from Downtown Austin to Downtown San Antonio in 30-40 minutes, and regional service could cover the same distance in about 50-60.

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Now, I lived in Austin for about 4 years, so I know the area a bit, but I’m not as familiar with the commuter corridors in San Antonio. I’d love to hear feedback from people who currently live and work in these areas on the details of this alignment, as I’m sure it could be polished up a bit.

As always, I’m looking forward all the comments, but please review the previous posts in the series and keep the fundamental premise of the series in mind before commenting. This isn’t a blueprint, it’s a conversation starter.