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Transit agency moves to acquire operating rights for rail-banked UP line in Texas
I am pretty sure that is the line that used to run along side US 59 and then FM1093 to Wallis Texas. It ended at the “Summit” or “Compaq” center where the Houston Rockets played. The line was last used for the Barnum and Bailey Circus train. When the Rockets moved to To Toyota Center the Circus moved there. This made the line surplus. You can still see all the trestles along FM1093 very clearly. Glad to see it will see traffic again!
That’d be interesting to see trains running by the Home Depot and Garden Center again. At the same time, this will be one heck of an uphill fight since that right-of-way is occupied by both the dog park and Westpark Tollway from just west of Newcastle onward past Beltway 8 (with various equipment under 610).
Does anyone have a link to a map showing the ROW?
Alas, this is quite promising!
Martin Gombert… If you use Google Earth and put in Eagle Lake TX it will show the area… One track going straight east looks like the rail is missing… Houston has so many tracks it is hard to say what they are talking about… But the whole thing does show the stupidity of government not following rules about this… Just jump in and find out there are rocks one foot below water…
It’s the old SA&AP right-of-way between Eagle Lake and Bellaire Jct. It’s virtually tangent track, and probably would not require too much expense to rebuild it for a light rail line. There certainly has been lots of growth along FM 1093, and there’s not much hwy capacity out that direction except for I-10. Would probably be a good long-term transportation investment.
I don’t think there will ever be trains on this line again.
The rails were pulled up years ago, and the portion inside Harris county (Houston) now has a toll road on it.
Metro wants the get the rights, so it can then terminate them, and then allow Fort Bend county to build an ajoining toll road on the right of way.
Toll roads are a bad investment and have been bankrupt from the get-go. Tear out the toll roads and track the rail line over it. Who wants to pay more to drive or commute? For the very few who do want the toll road, put your money where your mouth is before you continue to build us into bankruptcy.