Southwest Rail Corridor

Last updated
90A/Southwest Rail Corridor
Overview
StatusProposed
Locale Missouri City and Southwest Houston
Termini
Stations4
Service
Type Commuter Rail
Operator(s) Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
Technical
CharacterElevated and surface-level
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)

The Southwest Rail Corridor(SWRC) was a proposed commuter rail line in the southwestern Houston area. The line was planned to connect Missouri City to METRORail's current Fannin South where it would merge with METRORail's Red line, eventually ending at Wheeler. [1]

Contents

History

The project started in January 2011, with METRO initiating an Environmental Impact Statement. Their preliminary study stated that the population in both Harris County and Fort Bend County would continue to grow, and thus there would be more commuters going to central Houston. It identified the area with most commuters from Fort Bend County as the Texas Medical Center with 24,000 daily trips, accounting for 33% of the total work trips. The number of daily trips was expected to reach 32,000 by 2035. [1]

On 28 September 2012, METRO paused work on the SWRC project "to reassess investment priorities in the region via the Transit Re-imagining Plan". [2] On 18 May 2015, John Culberson announced an agreement with the METRO chairman Gilbert Garcia which would "[prioritize] the development of commuter rail for the US 90A/Southwest Rail Corridor". [3]

On 14 December 2018 the METRONext Moving Forward Plan was announced which contained a number of proposed investments. [4] [5] Among these was a route to Sugar Land via Missouri City, which is similar to the previously proposed SWRC route. As of 2024, this new route is still featured on the METRO website, where it is described as a "future METRORail potential partnership". [6]

Rolling Stock

The original proposal considered light rail, electric locomotive, or diesel locomotive trains. [7] The 2018 METRONext plan proposes a similar route using light rail transit. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri City, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, an increase over the figure of 67,358 tabulated in 2010.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service in the city as well as most of Harris County. It also operates bus service to two cities in Fort Bend County, and to Conroe in Montgomery County. The Metro headquarters are in the Lee P. Brown Administration Building in Downtown Houston. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 60,121,300, or about 225,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">METRORail</span> 22.7-mile (36.5 km) light rail system in Houston, Texas

METRORail is the 22.7-mile (36.5 km) light rail system in Houston, Texas. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 12,176,700, or about 44,300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023. METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th most-traveled light rail system in the United States, and has the highest ridership per mile for light rail systems in the Southern US. METRORail is operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami-Dade Transit</span> Primary public transit authority of Miami, Florida

Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) is the primary public transit authority of Miami, Florida and the greater Miami-Dade County area. It is the largest transit system in Florida and the 15th-largest transit system in the United States. As of 2022, the system has 60,734,900 rides per year, or about 248,700 per weekday in the third quarter of 2023. MDT operates the Metrobus with their paratransit STS systems run by LSF. MDT also operates two rail transit systems: Metrorail and Metromover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tri-Rail</span> Commuter rail service in South Florida

Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The Tri prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. Tri-Rail is managed by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) along CSX Transportation's former Miami Subdivision; the line is now wholly owned by the Florida DOT. The 80.0-mile-long (128.7 km) system has 19 stations along the Southeast Florida coast, and connects directly to Amtrak at numerous stations, to Metrorail at the Tri-Rail and Metrorail Transfer station, Miami Intermodal Center, and MiamiCentral, and to Brightline at MiamiCentral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northstar Line</span> Commuter rail route in Minnesota, United States

The Northstar Line is a commuter rail route in the US state of Minnesota. Northstar runs 40 miles (64 km) from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis at Target Field using existing track and right-of-way owned by the BNSF Railway. Passenger service began on November 16, 2009. The rail line serves part of the Northstar Corridor between Minneapolis and St. Cloud. Planning for the line began in 1997 when the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) was formed. The corridor is also served by Interstate 94 and U.S. Highway 10. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 77,100, or about 300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

Metro Transit is the primary public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest operator in the state. Although Metro Transit is one of the smallest transit systems for a large metropolitan area in the United States, it has previously been ranked as one of the best. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 38,794,700, or about 138,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westpark Tollway</span>

The Westpark Tollway, also Fort Bend Westpark Tollway, is a controlled-access toll road in Texas, serving western Houston and Harris County, and northeastern Fort Bend County. Construction on the facility began in 2001 and portions of the road were opened to traffic in May 2004. Construction of the roadway was completed in August 2005. The Westpark Tollway begins on Westpark Drive just past the South Rice Avenue intersection in the Uptown District of Houston and runs approximately 22 miles (35 km) west to Farm to Market Road 1093 just past Farm to Market Road 723 in Fulshear, Texas. It runs roughly parallel and to the south of Westheimer Road in Harris County and concurrently with FM 1093 in Fort Bend County.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority maintains and operates a 103-mile (165.8 km) toll road system in the Greater Houston area of Texas, United States. Its headquarters are located in Houston's Fairbanks/Northwest Crossing neighborhood.

Transportation in Sugar Land, Texas includes multiple highways and an airport. There is no mass transit system, but it has been a possible candidate for expansion of Houston's METRORail system by means of a planned commuter rail. Since many of Sugar Land's residents work in Houston, thus creating routine rush hour traffic along the city's main thoroughfare, Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59, there has been large support in the area for such a project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fannin South station</span> METRORail stop

Fannin South is an island platformed METRORail light rail station in Houston, Texas, United States. The station was opened on January 1, 2004, and is operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO). Serving as the southern terminus of the Red Line, this is located at the intersection of Fannin Street and West Bellfort Avenue, and is co-located with the Fannin South Transit Center facility, which is located close to Interstate 610.

This is a documentation of the routes, highways, parking requirements, or anything related to transportation in Houston.

The Metro Purple Line, formerly known as the Rush Line Corridor, is a proposed bus rapid transit service that would run from Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul to the northeastern suburbs of Saint Paul. Along the corridor's 21 proposed stations there are 106,000 jobs within a 10-minute walk. The project is currently in an environmental analysis phase with further development, engineering, and construction expected to take at least six more years. Service would run 7-days a week with 10-minute headways in peak periods and 15-minute service at most other times. The corridor was named the Rush Line because it was originally planned to end in Rush City, Minnesota. After using the color purple since 2017, the route was officially named the Purple Line and became part of the Metro network on July 14, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Texas</span> Overview of transportation in Texas

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is a governmental agency and its purpose is to "provide safe, effective, and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with maintenance of the state's immense highway system, the agency is also responsible for aviation in the state and overseeing public transportation systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metrorail (Miami-Dade County)</span> Rapid-transit rail system in Miami, Florida

Metrorail is a rapid transit system in Miami and Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Metrorail is operated by Miami-Dade Transit (MDT), a departmental agency of Miami-Dade County. Opened in 1984, it is Florida's only rapid transit metro system, and is currently composed of two lines of 23 stations on 24.4 miles (39.3 km) of standard gauge track. Metrorail serves the urban core of Miami, connecting Miami International Airport, the Health District, Downtown Miami, and Brickell with the northern developed neighborhoods of Hialeah and Medley to the northwest, and to suburban The Roads, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, and South Miami, ending at urban Dadeland in Kendall. Metrorail connects to the Metromover in Downtown, which provides metro service to the entirety of Downtown and Brickell. Additionally, it connects to South Florida's commuter rail system at Tri-Rail station, as well as Metrobus routes at all stations. In 2022, the system had 11,951,400 rides, and about 45,400 per day in the third quarter of 2023.

The University Line is a planned 25 mi (40 km) bus rapid transit route that would be operated by Metro in Houston, Texas, United States. It replaces a former METRORail light rail line that was proposed in the 2000s and 2010s. The University Line is scheduled to begin construction in 2025 and would be built in five sections between Westchase Park and Ride, Uptown, the University of Houston, and Tidwell Transit Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">METRORapid Silver Line</span> Bus rapid transit line in Houston, Texas, U.S.

The METRORapid Silver Line is a bus rapid transit line in Houston, Texas operated by METRO. Opened August 23, 2020, the line connects the Uptown area of Houston, with dedicated lanes over nearly the entire length of the corridor. It serves the Northwest Transit Center, 8 stations along Post Oak Boulevard in Uptown, and the Westpark/Lower Uptown Transit Center. On internal METRO documents, the METRORapid Silver Line is designated as Route 433.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">METRORail Purple Line</span> Light rail line in Houston, Texas, U.S.

The Purple Line is a 6.6-mile (10.6 km) METRORail light rail/streetcar route operated by METRO in Houston, Texas, United States, serving Southeast Houston. The line opened on May 23, 2015.

The Green Line is a 3.3 mi (5.3 km) METRORail light rail/streetcar line operated by METRO in Houston, Texas, serving the East End area. The first seven-station segment of this line opened on May 23, 2015. The two-station eastern end of this route was delayed due to issues over crossing Union Pacific Railroad tracks, but eventually opened in January 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 "METRO Current Projects - US 90A/Southwest Rail Corridor". Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012.
  2. "METRO Current Projects - US 90A/Southwest Rail Corridor". Ride Metro. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  3. "Metro Agreement Paves Way for New Transportation Solutions". Mass Transit. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  4. "Rail News - Houston METRO's $7.5 billion plan would double light-rail system. For Railroad Career Professionals". Progressive Railroading. 2018-12-14. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  5. 1 2 "METRONext Vision & Moving Forward Plans" (PDF). Metro Resourcespace. 2018-12-11. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  6. "METRONext Moving Forward Plan | ADA Accessible Public Transit | Houston, Texas". Ride Metro. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  7. "METRO Current Projects - US 90A/Southwest Rail Corridor - Scoping" (PDF). Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 22, 2012.