Navasota looks like Harvard on the Metra UPNW - not a lot of boardings; but it's at the far corner of the region and draws some travel from as far as Madison, WI (as fast as the Hiawatha, even at 110 mph, when it gets extended). Is Navasota in the Houston CMA? Maybe Navasota is a backhand way of serving College Station and Bryan?
I agree that going across Houston to Galveston makes better sense. Think I suggested a route earlier
Is service to Navasota the first phase or "place-holder" for fast regional trains to Dallas-Fort Worth and to Austin and San Antonio through College Station?
The line in question appears to be the route of the old Houston section of the Texas Eagle. Running commute trains to Navasota does not make any sense, with Bryan-College Station and Texas A&M just up the road a few miles.
The freight traffic on this line has fluctuated up and down from its SP days, and yes it does go to FTW, but viia Ennis on the old Midlothian Sub. The other side of the route, which splits at Ennis, goes on to Dallas.
Let's not all get fuzzed up over this; the UP will have something to say about it, I am sure.
Commute trains need large population support, and this line does not seem to be a viable idea, unless the good Dr. Bertini can get involved and get the trains down to Galveston from Houston proper.
Is the line from Valley Jct through Marlin to Waco and a more population severed? If so, could it be restored? Otherwise you end up with separate lines to the peak of the A at Dallas-Fort Worth and with Valley Jct-Taylor as the crossbar.
The tracks to Navasota extends on out to Waco.
Gone South,
Not directly,this track goes to B/CS and to Hearne,then onto FW via the Ennis Sub..Waco Sub is about 40 miles west of this line,it goes to FW also...
GoneSouthTo make it even worst, the proposed route would stop somewhere around 290 / 610. Which is about five miles northwest of downtown, not even close to the Medical center, and out in the middle of no where. The comments I saw, Metro would provide bus shuttle from this point. GOOD LUCK with that one. The rail that they are looking to use does connect to the UP main line and does runs right by the Amtrak station. I agree the Amtrak station is not within easy walking distance of downtown. If you see pictures of the old SP station, which is about where the Amtrak station is located, you will notice the number of trolleys at the station waiting to pick up passagers. This would work for the Amtrak train which is only 3 each direction per week, but not for the commuter trains off loading several hundred passagers every thirty minutes or so. Then if you add the possiblity of the Galveston commuter trains to this mix. Even more problems. So, if anyone has two or three billion dollars laying around, we could buy couple of city blocks in the middle of downtown Houston and have all of the commuter trains load and off load from there. (Just dreaming). The tracks to Navasota extends on out to Waco. This is the leg that is being mention in the HSR T-Bone route for Texas. So who knows maybe one of the years, Houston (forth largest city in US) can go Back to Future and have some real passager / commuter trains again.
To make it even worst, the proposed route would stop somewhere around 290 / 610. Which is about five miles northwest of downtown, not even close to the Medical center, and out in the middle of no where. The comments I saw, Metro would provide bus shuttle from this point. GOOD LUCK with that one.
The rail that they are looking to use does connect to the UP main line and does runs right by the Amtrak station. I agree the Amtrak station is not within easy walking distance of downtown. If you see pictures of the old SP station, which is about where the Amtrak station is located, you will notice the number of trolleys at the station waiting to pick up passagers. This would work for the Amtrak train which is only 3 each direction per week, but not for the commuter trains off loading several hundred passagers every thirty minutes or so. Then if you add the possiblity of the Galveston commuter trains to this mix. Even more problems. So, if anyone has two or three billion dollars laying around, we could buy couple of city blocks in the middle of downtown Houston and have all of the commuter trains load and off load from there. (Just dreaming).
The tracks to Navasota extends on out to Waco. This is the leg that is being mention in the HSR T-Bone route for Texas. So who knows maybe one of the years, Houston (forth largest city in US) can go Back to Future and have some real passager / commuter trains again.
Isn't there an adage - do it right or don't do it at all?
Actually, some of the transit buses (any articulateds?) coming into Houston could pick up passengers at the Amtrak station and take different streets through the downtown and nearby destinations instead of returning empty. This could be reversed in the evening. Such an operation is highly problematic from as far out as you say, assuming the expressways are jammed. The time factor is much greater, at least 15-20 minutes each way, which kinda blows the rush hour.
To get to Galveston as expeditiously as possible, a former rail line would need to be restored along Allen Street from the present Amtrak depot east to what appears to be the UP at Navigation & Commerce. From there, the route could proceed rather directly through a number of communities on what seems to have been the "CH&H". A platform southeast of Commerce would be within walking distance of Minute Maid Park. Whether buses would meet the trains here as well would need to be studied.
Unless other routes funneled in at both ends, it seems doubtful that volume would come close to justifying an underground link along Texas St with one or more downtown stations. Off hand, I'd say you'd need a demand of about 4,500 passengers in each direction in the peak hour, the equivalent of two expressway lanes and about 5 6-car trains.
I like the T-bone plan too, except that the Waco-Taylor shortcut would save some time to Austin from Fort Worth.
The trains Newswire carried a story that a Houston - Navasota rail commuter service will be studied. The comment that commuter trains will operate in daytime and freight at night makes me wonder if this is to be a light rail line like Austin, TX? The problem I have with that is whether LRT would preclude fast intercity heavy rail trains to College Station and continuing to Dallas-Fort Worth and to Austin and San Antonio. Would Navasota be a better route for the Sunset for the Houston - San Antonio leg?
Obviously nothing is firm; but my observation is that the current Amtrak station is not within a comfortable walking distance of most of the downtown area. I wonder how that might be solved?
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