Austin's MetroRail commuter line along Airport Boulevard near 45th Street.
Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman
San Antonio-to-Austin passenger rail gets another look from Bexar, Travis county judges
Published: Thu, 12/07/23
San Antonio-to-Austin passenger rail gets another look from Bexar, Travis county judges
Austin's MetroRail commuter line along Airport Boulevard near 45th Street.
Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman
San Antonio Express-News
By Annasofia Scheve
Taking a train to see the Spurs play could be in the near future for Austin residents with the announcement that two county judges are working toward reviving the failed plans for a passenger rail between Austin and San Antonio.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai announced the collaboration after participating in a panel hosted by the Austin Area Research Organization on uniting the two cities in a "super-region."
"Andy and I are working together so that we can get Travis County and Bexar County to get all the fans to watch the San Antonio Spurs without going through IH-35," Sakai said in a video statement.
The subject of an Austin-San Antonio rail project left a bad taste in leaders' mouths after the demise of the Lone Star Rail District in 2016. Even after 13 years and $25 million in mostly taxpayer dollars, the project was halted because the Union Pacific Railroad wouldn't agree to share tracks with the proposed rail line.
Sakai himself seemed skeptical this summer about bringing back the passenger rail, but an appetite for it persists.
"I would visit San Antonio all the time if there were a train," one X user responded to the video statement.