Texas Rail Advocates: Texas' Economic Future Rides on the Rail Despite Budget Crunch

DALLAS, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Presenters from the public and private sector will gather in Dallas January 27 and 28 to discuss action plans for the future of passenger and freight rail service in Texas at the 7th Annual Southwestern Rail Conference, despite facing short term financial obstacles at the state and federal level.

"Planning for freight and passenger rail improvements is a long-term proposition that  must be addressed regardless of short-term budget shortfalls," according to Peter LeCody, President of Texas Rail Advocates, a Dallas, Texas based organization that promotes the future of rail transportation in the state and the Southwest. "We must look 10-20-30 years out if rail is going to be an important component in a total transportation plan," according to LeCody. "Some of the scarce transportation dollars must be directed toward securing our future for better service to move people and goods if we want to avoid future congestion and gridlock." The state of Texas is facing a budget shortfall that is being addressed by the state legislature, now meeting in Austin.

Information on the Southwestern Rail Conference is posted at www.texasrailadvocates.org, sponsor of the yearly event.

The rail conference will be held in the Grand Hall of the newly renovated Dallas Union Station and will bring together the public and private sectors and will include a presentation from William "Bill" Glavin, Director of the Rail Division, Texas Department of Transportation. After only one year in existence, the Rail Division has been successful in obtaining several federal grants for improving freight rail congestion points and for a study of intercity passenger rail service that would encompass the I-35 corridor.

With several conservative Midwest governors turning back federal funding for the development of passenger rail service in favor of building more roads, William S. Lind, director of The American Conservative Center for Public Transportation will address the conference on his recently published articles titled "Why Conservatives Should Like Rail" and "Why High Speed Rail is Killing Us."  Lind is the coauthor of Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation.

Also at the conference, a panel will discuss the latest findings of an innovative approach to financing a regional passenger rail line. The Cotton Belt Initiative, if successful, could be a template for development of regional rail service in other parts of the country.  The panel will consist of Former House Transportation Chair Mike Krusee, Dallas City Councilperson Ron Natinksy and North Central Council of Governments Senior Program Manager Tom Shelton. Tom LeBeau, Vice President - Rail Development and Capital Projects, Denton County Transportation Authority will preview the new DCTA "A" Train service to debut this summer, linking Denton County to Dallas County.

Curtis Morgan from the Texas Transportation Institute will discuss recent and future passenger rail corridor studies and freight rail studies.  Executives from BNSF Railway, Union Pacific and Iowa Pacific Holdings will discuss recent developments in rail transportation.

The conference on Friday will be preceded by a dinner on Thursday evening, January 27 that will present "An Evening on High Speed Rail." Denis Doute, Chief Executive Officer of SNCF America, representing the French National Railway and Joshua Coran, Director of U.S. Operations for Talgo  - Spanish high speed trains -  will address the gathering and show how high speed rail is beneficial to those countries and their economy.

The conference will also be addressed by Robert Stewart, Chairman of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.

The Southwestern Rail Conference brings together presenters from freight and passenger rail companies; rail think tanks; state, regional and local transportation officials; rail advocacy organizations and other related fields.

Further information can be found on the TRA website www.texasrailadvocates.org or www.swrailconf.org.

SOURCE Texas Rail Advocates