Hope rises for fast LR-Memphis rail-rider service
Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/239460/
A study to assess the feasibility of high-speed passenger rail service between Little Rock and Memphis is part of a larger effort to upgrade railroads throughout the region, which proponents now say will come sooner rather than later.
Bill Pollard of Conway, chairman of the Arkansas Association of Railroad Passengers, applauded a provision of the Rail Safety Improvement Act, which Congress sent to President Bush on Wednesday. It requires the U. S. Department of Transportation and the federal Railroad Administration to determine the feasibility of extending the South Central High-Speed Rail Corridor from Little Rock to Memphis.
“It’s a very positive development, a very exciting development,” Pollard said. “I think it’s the future of transportation in this country.”
Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., wrote the provision.
“High-speed rail connections not only provide enhanced access to the national transportation system for travelers, it also helps our region confront many important challenges related to economic development, high fuel prices, and highway congestion,” Berry said in a statement.
The Transportation Department designed the South Central High-Speed Rail Corridor in 2000. It runs from San Antonio to Dallas-Fort Worth with branches to Tulsa and to Little Rock. Pollard said it made sense to extend the corridor to Memphis because Little Rock is an “intermediate terminal, not a destination.”
“By extending it 120 miles to Memphis, you greatly expand the market potential,” he said. “When we did the original designation, we didn’t go quite far enough. This is to correct that.”
The route likely would go from Little Rock to Bald Knob and then to Wynne before it reaches Memphis, Pollard said. It is the Union Pacific Railroad’s high-speed line, 13 miles longer than the old Rock Island Railroad line that came out of Little Rock through Lonoke and Carlisle and up through Brinkley to Memphis. The Little Rock to Bald Knob leg now is used by Amtrak’s Texas Eagle passenger train.
But don’t look for “Bullet Trains” that can reach speeds of 300 mph. Proponents envision upgrading existing facilities to the point that conventional trains safely reach speeds of about 100 mph.
“It’s called higher-speed rail,” said Rep. Steven Harrelson, DTexarkana, whose district lies within the corridor.
An official with Texas Rail Advocates said he hopes the provision helps create momentum for Arkansas interest in the project.
“We think that would be a natural extension,” said Peter LeCody, a spokesman for the organization. “That could eventually connect into a national network. We’re trying to work now to raise awareness.
“ Arkansas has kind of perked up in the last year or so on this. It seems in the last year or two a lot more interest is taking place.”
The legislation also contains language that will set aside $ 1. 5 billion over five years to spend on the high-speed rail corridors, said Randall Wade, passenger rail manager for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The language mirrors the recommendation of a national transportation study commission to target intercity rail with more money, Wade said.
The funding, if it makes it through the appropriations process, would work like federal funding for highways and airports. The federal government would provide 80 percent of the cost of the project, the state or local government providing the remaining 20 percent, Wade said.
The legislation also calls for feasibility studies on extensions of the South Central High Speed Rail Corridor to the Port of Houston in Texas and to a point far south of San Antonio to be chosen, he said.
Harrelson welcomes the feasibility study but fears Arkansas will be left behind if it doesn’t capitalize on the interest.
The study will “show us how much it would cost,” he said. “It will give us a lot better understanding to see how much it would cost overall to make this corridor a reality.
Harrelson is a member of the East Texas Corridor Council, which he said has generated excitement for the corridor in that part of Texas.
“ People now are truly motivated to see an alternative mode of transportation,” he said. “People in Texas want to see theirs completed in 15 years. Texas has appropriated $ 60 million to study their portion of the corridor.
“ What’s important is for Arkansas to get on the ball because I’m afraid once Texas gets done, they may reroute their corridor to Oklahoma and Missouri,” Harrelson said. “That’s a real concern.”
Harrelson doesn’t expect the Arkansas Legislature will take up the issue in January when it begins its biennial regular session.
“We’re hoping we can at least get everybody’s attention,” he said. “We don’t think there’s an opportunity for a push for a spending bill. We might make a push in the 88 th General Assembly, which meets in 2011.”