Marshall City Council shows support for proposed I-20 passenger railway project

MARSHALL, Texas - The Marshall City Council approved a resolution Thursday in support of a proposed Interstate 20 corridor railway project.

Interim City Manager David Willard was joined by Richard and Christina Anderson to present the council with a resolution in support of the development of a proposed Amtrak passenger railway line that would run through Marshall.

“We are here presenting to you tonight because things are moving forward,” Christina Anderson, who has been working on the project for about 10 years, said during the meeting.

The project is a plan established by Amtrak and other railway agencies using a federal infrastructure bill to connect more than 14 million residents in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia with states in the East Coast, all the way through New York through an expanded passenger railway system.

The Andersons, who work with the Marshall Depot board of directors, said that the project is largely supported across the country and has the potential to be the largest passenger railway expansion in the country in a long time.

Richard Anderson said that the project has the possibility to start moving along quickly, with other cities such as Longview and Bossier City already passing similar resolutions, and cities like Shreveport and many more preparing to hear the resolutions in the near future.

The Canadian Pacific freight railway company, which is merging with the Kansas City Southern railway that owns the proposed rail route, expressed its support for a new Amtrak line along I-20 in January.

“We are just basically connecting the dots between Marshall and Meridian (Mississippi),” Christina Anderson said, explaining that Meridian has a passenger line which connects the city to the East Coast.

The resolution approved Thursday states that the need for additional transportation options is great, due to fact that the existing I-20 was constructed almost 60 years ago and has seen no material increase in capacity since that time, despite the population growth throughout these states.

“I-20 has no plans to expand,” Richard Anderson said.

After the presentation, three councilmembers, Marvin Bonner, Vernia Calhoun and Amanda Abraham, spoke in favor of the project, thanking the Andersons and Willard for bringing the resolution to council.

“I love the line to Chicago, so I really can’t wait to be able to take the train all the way to New York,” Abraham said.