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Leander to Austin Commuter or Light Rail Line

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The proponents of the Leander to Austin commuter railway dubbed it an urban commuter rail service.  Because it will run on the Austin & Western, which is a regional freight carrier operated by Capital Metro, and will use DMUs; the Capital Metro Board of Directors argued that it is an urban commuter railway line.  Therefore, it comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).  Whoops, the FRA has some stringent rules about mixing passenger and freight train operations.  The equipment purchased by Capital Metro does not meet all the requirements to operate in a mixed environment.  Capital Metro has sought 10 waivers for it and its planned operations, pointing out along the way that the passenger and freight operations will be scheduled at different times, i.e. passenger during the day and freight at night.  But the feds are not easily persuaded.  And the proposed operation has run into a bit of a regulatory jam.  Not to worry.The proposed solution would make any double dealer proud.  Now the operator is proposing to call it light rail.  If they pull it off, it will regulated by the Federal Transit Administration, which supposedly has looser regulations.  The line had been scheduled to open in late 2008.  But thanks to the regulatory hair splitting, amongst other things, it probably will not begin service until the first quarter of 2009.
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