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[quote user="schlimm"] [quote user="Sam1"] The rail enthusiast and frequent rider in me is thankful for the Texas Eagle, as well as the Heartland Flyer and Sunset Limited.  The accountant and financial analyst in me is appalled at the losses run-up by these trains. The futurist in me would scrap the Eagle and the Limited. I would use the equipment (coaches and lounge cars) to establish improved service from Oklahoma City and Little Rock to Fort Worth and San Antonio.   Passenger rail in Texas will never be a serious transport option until we have multiple offerings per day, on a relatively quick schedule, running during the hours when people want to go some place.  Running the Texas Eagle, as it is, does not address the issue of better alternatives for people traveling along the I-35 and I-30 corridors.  [/quote] A very succinct picture of the key issues in the broader view as well.   But sticking to Texas, do you think Houston fits into that vision? [/quote] DFW and Houston have the largest combined metro populations (educated guess) of any two end points in Texas, but the density along the I-35 corridor is much greater than the density along the I-45 corridor. Although the folks in Corsicana, Fairfield, and Buffalo, amongst others, may not like to hear me say it, the I-45 corridor between Dallas and Houston is populated lightly.   The I-35 corridor is the most densely populated one in TX.  Between Dallas and San Antonio there are seven cities that have significant populations and, therefore, are potentially viable markets for improved intercity passenger train service. End point to end point intercity passenger rail has to compete with Southwest Airlines, which is likely to produce a bad outcome.  But the train could capture a significant percentage of the folks traveling from Austin to Dallas or San Antonio to Waco. In the 90s, if I remember correctly, the Eagle had connecting cars that ran from Dallas to Houston. I rode the train a couple of times.  It went through Corsicana.  But it turned out to be a bust and the service was dropped.
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