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Austin, TX

Is a Central Texas passenger rail possible?

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Is a Central Texas passenger rail possible?


Travis County Judge Andy Brown is trying to get a passenger rail plan for Central Texas back on track. He sent a message to federal officials after a multi-million dollar grant was awarded to a high speed rail project in East Texas.

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Amtrak provides passenger service through Austin from San Antonio to Dallas, but it’s far from efficient. It’s not uncommon, a three-hour trip by car to the metroplex can take four to six hours by train. 

The slow roll for riders is because Amtrak uses rails owned by Union Pacific, which makes delivering freight, not people, a priority. Efforts to streamline the route have not been successful. 

But to the east, things are moving for a plan to build a high-speed bullet train between Dallas and Houston. The Federal Railroad Administration awarded the project a $64 million grant, which keeps the plan alive. 

In a social media post, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg included the new east Texas route on a national map of other rail projects. That map identified Central Texas as already having passenger service. 

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Travis County Judge Andy Brown responded to that post, telling the transportation secretary, Austin and San Antonio are fast-growing metro areas and would love to be included in future passenger rail plans. 

Judge Brown spoke to FOX 7 about the message he sent and the projects in the works.

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“The fact that we don’t have great passenger rail between us and our neighbor 70 miles to the south, Bexar County is pretty wild and pretty unique in the world,” said Judge Brown.

Passenger rail connecting Austin and San Antonio proposed

Judge Brown is working with Bexar County Judge Sakai on building a Central Texas Rail Coalition that includes Republicans and Democrats.

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“To fight for increased passenger rail service in Texas, because we’re realizing that even though I-35 is being rebuilt in Austin and in San Antonio, even after that, we’re going to need better ways and additional ways to get around between Austin and San Antonio in particular, but really around the whole state. We’re growing so fast. We need more passenger rail,” said Brown.

The team up is an effort to get the current federal administration to understand that the rail service between San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas is not efficient and actually needs to be ramped up.

“I don’t fault the Biden administration. I don’t fault TxDOT, because there’s been lots of reasons in history of why we don’t have great passenger rail along this route, but we need to all come together and figure it out,” said Brown. 

“I’m getting a different sense of a from people who are Republicans and Democrats about the need for this and the desire to do this,” said Brown.

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The rail coalition is called the “Texas Passenger Rail Advisory Committee.” Brown believes the group can deliver. 

A big push is expected to come in January when state lawmakers return to Austin.

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“So really, it’s just up to the Texas legislature to take advantage of the money that the Biden administration is offering. My understanding is it’s about an 80/20 match. So, if we come up with 20% of the funding, the feds will match 80% of that. And so, this is a great opportunity for us to move forward. And we’re going to be taking this issue to the legislature this session to try to get, you know, about $300 million put into the Texas Rail Fund so that we can help match those federal funds,” said Brown.

There are three options in play, according to Judge Brown:

  • Teaming up with a private company out of Florida that’s considering a rail line along I-35.
  • Spur off the Houston to Dallas bullet train route, looping west from College Station.
  • Idea of cutting a deal with Union Pacific, adding additional track for Amtrak and or re-routing freight.



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Austin, TX

3 Takeaways From Texas A&M’s Win in Austin

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3 Takeaways From Texas A&M’s Win in Austin


The Texas A&M Aggies were able to avenge their first conference loss against the Tennessee Volunteers last Tuesday with a win over the Texas Longhorns at the Moody Center in Austin Saturday night, 74-70.

Rashaun Agee clocked in another double-double, and the Aggies took the lead early in the first half and never handed it back to their rivals, no matter how close it seemed that the Burnt Orange was to coming back.

In the end, the Ags reigned supreme and clutched their first win over the Longhorns in the state capital for the first time since the 2002 season.

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The Notebook: Three Takeaways

Texas A&M Aggies forward Rashaun Agee (12) dunks against Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Pope (0) during the first half at Moody Center. | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images
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Rashaun Agee Does It Again

For the fourth time in the past six contests, A&M forward Rashaun Agee recorded a double-double, this time with 17 points and 11 rebounds Saturday, continuing to show his presence as a playmaker for the Aggies in the short amount of time he and the rest of the team have been a part of the team.

Thanks to his professional-level performances, Agee is close to averaging a triple double for the season, with 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds so far in the 2025-26 season, and the Aggies are undefeated whenever Agee scores in double figures in points and rebounds, except for their overtime contest to the SMU Mustangs where Agee scored 13 points and 11 rebounds in the 93-80 loss.

History Does NOT Repeat Itself in Austin

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And Texas A&M couldn’t be happier for it.

Last year’s visit to Austin saw the Aggies up by 20 points late in the first half, only for the Longhorns to ride the comeback and take the 70-69 win with a layup by Tramon Mark with three seconds left to stun the Maroon and White.

Thankfully, that wasn’t case Saturday night, but it seemed like the stars were aligning for it to happen again, as the Aggies built up a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter, and then it was like the Longhorns couldn’t miss, and had there been a few more minutes on the clock, a repeat of last year could’ve definitely been in store.

However, Jacari Lane was able to sink the free throw that made it a four-point game and completely dashed Texas’ chances for victory, moving the Aggies to 4-1 in conference play.

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“Bucky Ball” Continues To Shape Into Form

The assist numbers were slightly down for the Aggies, only getting 14 on the night, but the three-point percentage was right at 40, and the shooting was much more efficient as the game went on, making over half of their field goals on 27-of-53 shooting.

After just under 20 games, Bucky McMillan’s game plan seems to be translating over to College Station just fine, with the occasional struggles at the three-point line and slight inconsistencies at the charity stripe.

Texas A&M will look to keep its momentum rolling in conference play as it takes on the Mississippi State Bulldogs back home in College Station at Reed Arena Wednesday night at 8:00 PM.

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Swims You Might Have Missed On The Final Day Of The 2026 Austin Pro Swim Series

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Swims You Might Have Missed On The Final Day Of The 2026 Austin Pro Swim Series


2026 PRO SWIM SERIES – AUSTIN

As the Austin Pro Swim Series draws to a close, there were a few swims on the final night that you may have missed.

Van Mathias made a lot of noise in the breaststroke events this week, but had a stunning swim to take 2nd in the 50 fly last night. He hacked six tenths off a second off his best of 23.62, set in the semi-finals, to notch 23.06 and rise to third in the world this season. Not only that, but he is now the 5th-fastest U.S. man in history in the event.

Ryan Erisman has thrown down some speedy swims on freestyle in Austin, but closed out the meet with the 200 fly, an event he hadn’t swum since 2024. He knocked 1.47 seconds off his best of 1:59.47, going 1:58.00 for 3rd place.

Bobby Finke also tried the 200 fly on for size, swimming the third-fastest time of his career in 1:59.34. That included a 29.11 final 50 which took him from 8th to 4th.

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Brinkleigh Hansen set a big best time en route to silver in the women’s 800 free, knocking seven seconds off the 8:42.75 she swam 18 months ago. She swam 8:35.78 tonight, beating Claire Weinstein by over a second, and now ranks 39th in the 15-16 age group.

Luc Dionne notched another breaststroke personal best, slicing a second and a half off in the 200 to go 2:13.31. He also ranks highly in the 15-16 age group, moving up from 18th to 6th, just ahead of American Record holder Matt Fallon.

Emma Harvey lowered her own Bermudian record in the women’s 50 fly last night, shaving eleven-hundredths off to go 26.59 and place 4th overall. She neared her nati0nal standard of 28.34 in the 50 back later in the session, swimming 28.70 for another 4th place finish.





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Texas A&M holds off Texas, ends long drought in Austin

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Texas A&M holds off Texas, ends long drought in Austin


Rashaun Agee and Rylan Griffen scored 17 points each as Texas A&M outlasted Texas 74-70 on Saturday in a key Southeastern Conference dustup between the two rivals in Austin, Texas.

The contest was tied at 29 at halftime before the Aggies (14-4, 4-1 SEC) surged to the front by 10 points early in the second half. Texas pulled to within 68-62 when Jordan Pope converted a four-point play with 4:37 left.

Ali Dibba’s layup and a 3-pointer by Jacari Lane, the latter with 3:02 remaining, built the A&M lead to 11 points but the Longhorns made a final surge, drawing to 73-70 on Chendall Weaver’s putback layup with 7.9 seconds to play.

Lane then canned a free throw to close out the game and the Longhorns, as Texas A&M ended an 11-game road losing streak to the Longhorns.

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Ruben Dominguez added 10 points and Agee grabbed 11 rebounds for the Aggies, who have won seven of their past eight games.

Pope and Dailyn Swain led Texas with 17 points apiece, with Matas Vokietaitis scoring 14 and Tramon Mark adding 13 points. The Longhorns (11-7, 2-3 SEC) had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Texas opened the game by scoring seven of the first nine points before the Aggies roared back with a 10-2 run, going up 12-9 on a putback dunk by Jamie Vinson at the 10:49 mark of the half. A&M pushed its lead to four points on a Pop Issacs’ layup with 8:37 to play but the Longhorns swung back, retaking the lead at 15-14 when Mark drove the lane for a short jumper 50 seconds later.

Texas expanded the margin to six points after Swain’s free throw with 3:36 to play until halftime but the Aggies answered with a 11-2 run punctuated by a pair of free throws by Lane with 17 seconds left in the half. That was just enough time for Mark to find the space to hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer that tied the game at 29 at the break.

Vokietaitis led all scorers with 11 points before halftime while Agee and Dominguez hit for seven each to pace Texas A&M.

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A&M roared out of the gate over the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second half, building a 46-36 lead after Dibba’s layup with 15:25 to play.

–Field Level Media

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