The rail district that has spent a decade and more than $26 million looking into a Georgetown to San Antonio commuter line, floundering after Union Pacific shut off the possibility of using its freight tracks, for now has survived one move to cut off critical funding.
But a three-hour discussion and vote by area transportation leaders Monday evening made it clear that patience is running thin with the little train that can’t seem to get traction. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board, while spurning an attempt to freeze funding it had allocated to the Lone Star Rail District, voted to have its executive committee spend the next couple of months taking a hard look at Lone Star’s plans, spending and future.
Then on Tuesday, Hays County commissioners, on a 5-0 vote and at the behest of Commissioner Will Conley, decided to withdraw as a member of the rail district effective Oct. 1, saving the county the annual $49,500 in district dues. Bexar County pulled out of Lone Star in February, according to Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff’s office, and San Antonio is considering reversing a pledge of $450,000 to the district… Read more from Statesman.com
Lone Star rail dodges ‘kill shot’ but put under microscope
