Free Republic

LEVELLAND, TX (KCBD) - Levelland is leading the way by investing millions to develop the new Levelland Industrial Rail Park. The "LIRP" will connect businesses to suppliers and customers globally, while contributing to a cleaner and greener environment. According to golevelland.com, Levelland's rail customers are served via the West Texas & Lubbock Railway (WTLC) which consists of 107 miles of railroad on two lines extending from Lubbock, TX to Seagraves and through Levelland to Whiteface, TX. Purchased in 2002 by the Permian Basin Railways (PBR), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings (IPH), the WTLC underwent major renovation with the...

One major concern I discussed a few weeks ago regarding the Trans Texas Corridor is where the land will come from. Another concern is where the money will come from. Official government websites for the TTC assure that public-private partnerships will shield the taxpayer from bearing too much of the cost burden, but a careful reading shows the door is definitely open to public funding sources, while at the same time there is no doubt of the intention to charge tolls on the road. Taxpayers already pay for their transportation system through hefty gasoline taxes, vehicle registration fees, and other...

INGLESIDE — A new way to move shipping containers might be tested in Ingleside as early as next year. Stephen Roop, designer and assistant director of the Texas Transportation Institute, a research and development agency working with the Texas A&M University System, has developed a freight shuttle that would move a container from point A to point B on rails. The process would be automated and computerized, with the owner of the shuttle programming where the shuttle needs to take the container. The concept is to alleviate congestion on highways and ship cargo more efficiently, Roop said. It was developed...

t was a quick-and-dirty job, but somebody had to do it. The "it" in this case was a cost comparison between expanding Interstate 35 beyond six lanes and building the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor twin to I-35. The "somebody" was HNTB Corp., which is serving as the Texas Department of Transportation's general engineering consultant on the I-35 corridor project. It was hired to do the comparison after skeptical Texas senators asked questions at a March 1 hearing. It doesn't take a doctorate in ethics to divine that HNTB, which produced a 101-page report plus hernia-inducing exhibits in just three weeks, might...

The Trans-Texas Corridor, and the TTC-35 component that will parallel Interstate 35, is the best solution to the congestion facing Texas highways, and I-35 in particular. Not only would it relieve traffic congestion, it would also expand economic opportunity along its path. What citizens need to realize also is that from the start, part of the long-term answer to relieving that congestion, and part of the TTC plan, has been passenger rail. Ottis Foster is correct in his Dec. 16 guest column, “Trucks on rails, off I-35” regarding rail being a key part of the solution to the increased traffic...

In the next few decades, the ever-growing Dallas-Fort Worth area could experience striking changes in the way that people and goods move. North Central Texas' population has been ballooning faster than the transportation infrastructure -- a situation akin to that of a growing middle-schooler whose old jeans don't quite fit anymore. With the Metroplex expected to add about 4 million people by 2030, it's hard to imagine the hellish traffic jams that we'll face in the future unless we take giant steps to reverse course. New transportation projects and strategies are being hashed out now that might someday save us...

Starting today, all eligible Texans can vote on whether to make nine changes to the state constitution. The propositions include one that affects the Texas railroad industry which, though not the most controversial issue on the ballot, is quickly coming under voter scrutiny. Proposition 1 is listed on the ballot as “the constitutional amendment creating the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund and authorizing grants of money and issuance of obligations for financing the relocation, rehabilitation, and expansion of rail facilities.” The amendment would create the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement fund. According to a summary of the proposition, it's...

It is time to “TTX” Amtrak – to sell Amtrak back to the freight railroads much as TTX is owned by the major carriers using its pooled freight cars. The manner in which Amtrak has been financed and operated since its creation in 1970 is no way to run a railroad. Amtrak's annual trek to Capitol Hill and ensuing begging mission – habitually impeded by conservatives anxious to kill it – begets barely sufficient funds to achieve mediocrity and discourages the best and brightest from seeking employment. Alas, the electorate won't permit Amtrak to die; conservatives won't permit Amtrak to...