Feds snub San Antonio, Austin in $8.2B railway funding

There’s been talk of a high-speed rail connecting San Antonio and Austin for what seems like decades as it’s considered one of the fastest growing metro areas in Texas. The idea has surfaced again in a big way as Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai voiced support for a high-speed rail system connecting the cities. However, federal fund givers seem to take the idea about as seriously as San Antonians who’ve had this concept dangled in front them several times before.

The idea of a high-speed rail system connecting the Alamo City with the Texas Capital has been tossed around for years, but Sakai recently said he and Travis County Judge Andy Brown are working together to get some stronger legs under the railway concept.

“Andy and I are working together so that we can get Travis County and Bexar County to get all the fans to come and watch the San Antonio Spurs without going through IH-35,” Sakai said in a video with Brown shared by the Travis County judge on X, where Brown also said the two took part in a panel addressing regional transportation solutions.

“How great would it be to take a train to see the Spurs instead of driving on I-35,” Brown tweeted. “Great panel with Judge Peter Sakai at the first annual 2023 Catalyst Summit by Austin Area Research Organization to talk about the future of our Super-Region!”

As great as it sounds in theory, the concept has seen a lot of pushback, namely from residents who make up the Hill Country towns that separate the two major metros who don’t want to see a railway running through their backyard.

Well, when it came time for the federal government to dole out dollars on Friday, December 8, San Antonio didn’t make the cut. In fact, of the 10 major projects receiving federal funds from the Federal Railroad Administration totaling $8.2 billion, Texas wasn’t even on the list. This didn’t sit well with Sakai or Brown who issued a joint statement Friday questioning the lack of federal support.

“The FRA’s failure to include the Travis-Bexar County corridor is a significant missed opportunity to support responsible growth and investment across Central Texas,” Brown said in the statement. “We live in one of the most dynamic and booming regions in the world without passenger rail. We will work closely with the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to make this a priority for the next round of investments.”

This isn’t the first federal action to snub the greater San Antonio-Austin metro area either, as the joint statement sent out by Sakai’s office says the FRA designated five corridors as priorities for railway expansion in Texas, and the I-35 corridor wasn’t mentioned. According to the press release, the Travis-Bexar County “super-region” houses upwards of 5 million people which officials project will jump to 8 million in the next 30 years.

“The FRA excluding our super-region is a setback, and we are determined to make this a priority and work as a mega-corridor with our Metropolitan Planning Organizations and stakeholders to make sure we don’t miss the next round of funding,” Sakai said. “We must do more to meet the demands of our time and address the key challenges we face as on of the fastest growing communities in the nation and improve transit with passenger rail in Central Texas.”