Near Term
- Establish daily passenger rail frequencies between the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex and Bossier City/Shreveport, Louisiana.
- Establish an Amtrak CentrePort/DFW Airport station stop for Amtrak's Texas Eagle with seamless connections to airport terminals.
- Connect the South Central and Gulf Coast federally designated High-Speed Rail Corridors via a Marshall-Longview-Palestine-Houston north/south connection and on an east/west line to Meridian, Mississippi along the existing Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way to Bossier City/Shreveport, LA.
- Capitalize Texas Rail Relocation & Improvement Fund.
Longer Term
- Fund I-20 and U.S. 59 (I-69) corridor rail infrastructure to effect double-tracking of the Union Pacific main line between the metroplex and Arkansas and Louisiana border connections as an incremental step toward Higher Speed Passenger Rail.
Accomplishments
- Texas Rail System Plan stakeholder as required by statute.
- ETCC Government Relations Chair, Tim Vaughn, and Director of the Longview Metropolitan Planning Organization Karen Owen selected by the Texas Department of Transportation to serve on statewide rail steering committee.
- Facilitated MOU between the East Texas, North Central Texas, and Northwest Louisiana & North Delta (Northeast Louisiana) regions.
- Project advisor for coordinated statewide rail and express bus network study.
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East Texas higher speed rail feasibility study funded by $740,000.00 in federal grants.
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Joined the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission.
Corridor Council Timeline--Click to Enlarge
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