Austin, TX: Capital Metro Rail

According to the Capital MetroBlog the current goal is to start rail operation during the first quarter of the year, despite their having dumped Veolia as the operator in favor of Herzog late last year.

I hope they actually make it without too much further delay, because I might be heading out that way in May.

Lastest presentation given to CapMetro's board.
http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/downlo ... 5_2010.pdf

Looks like Herzog found a few more potential issues during their review. Looks like all the fixes are scheduled for completion by the end of February 2010, and that this commuter train will start revenue service by the end of March.... Good luck!

Capital Metro says its long-awaited commuter rail line will start carrying passengers on March 22.
http://www.kvue.com/news/Ready-for-rail ... 77112.html

I'll agree, initiating rail services should be much easier than it is today. But, safety should always be the #1 concern in any endeavor.

Some good news, CapMetro has announced March 22nd for the beginning of rail service. Good luck!
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... aking_news


Photo: Andy Sharp for the American-Statesman

Oh, goodie! Now I can safely add Austin to the itinerary for my projected trip out West in May. I've ridden similar trains in Germany, so it will be interesting to see how they do here.

The CapMetro Metrorail trains has finally opened for passengers, on Monday March 22. I visited Austin on Tuesday to ride Austin's first attempt at running local trains in a long time. Here's some photos I took.......









My impressions:
This whole project was built to show Austin commuters what trains can do as cheap as possible. It's more a demonstration project than what many here would consider an effective commuter railroad. The station platforms aren't longer than one Stadler GTW 2/6 train, so that's how long the train can be at around 135 feet, holding at most 110 sitting passengers or 200 passengers including those standing. They have severely limited schedule of trains per day, running trains like most commuter operations only during the morning and evening rush hours. But unlike most commuter operations, the ability to increase the capacity of the trains is very limited because of the extremely short length of the station platforms I mentioned earlier. Obviously, CapMetro is going to have to spend twice as much in capital funds than they have already to increase Metrorail capacity, adding both longer station platforms and more GTWs to their fleet. As built, with the limited commuter rail scheduling, even with completely stuffed trains, the maximum number of passengers per day will be around 3000. Adding just one one-way train per day adds at most 200 more passengers a day.

The Stadler GTW 2/6 railcar ran smoothly and quietly, with very comfortable seats. The windows are large and tinted, sightseeing along the corridor was easy. There's at least 4 bike racks, and 2 wheelchair spaces per railcar. The low floor cars allowed easy and level boarding from the relatively low station platforms. Those few choosing to ride this train for their daily commute to work aren't going to be disappointed. On the other hand, if too many decide to take this train, it's going to be very crowded

electricron wrote:The station platforms aren't longer than one Stadler GTW 2/6 train, so that's how long the train can be at around 135 feet, holding at most 110 sitting passengers or 200 passengers including those standing. They have severely limited schedule of trains per day, running trains like most commuter operations only during the morning and evening rush hours. But unlike most commuter operations, the ability to increase the capacity of the trains is very limited because of the extremely short length of the station platforms I mentioned earlier. Obviously, CapMetro is going to have to spend twice as much in capital funds than they have already to increase Metrorail capacity, adding both longer station platforms and more GTWs to their fleet. As built, with the limited commuter rail scheduling, even with completely stuffed trains, the maximum number of passengers per day will be around 3000. Adding just one one-way train per day adds at most 200 more passengers a day.

Don't jump to conclusions about ridership and the future before any numbers come in, although I do think short platforms are a sign of trouble to come.

Note the LIRR emergency exit signs in the 2nd pic...

Amtrak7 wrote:Note the LIRR emergency exit signs in the 2nd pic...

NJT's are just like that, too. Must be some sort of standard part used by everyone. (Boy, I'd love to have that business!)

I recently returned from a road trip out West, during which I stopped in Austin to ride the MetroRail and take pictures of it:

http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Austin/

While visiting Austin, where I lived for years, I thought I'd check out the new rail line. I tried to look at it both from a railfan perspective and also as an Austin commuter might see it.
The platforms have a lot of signs, info, robo-voice announcements, etc. so there's little confusion about when and where you're going. The ticket vending machines don't give change so I ended up with a voucher I won't use for change (they take credit cards too). Some other novice passengers seemed a little confused about how to buy tickets though.
I got on at the Crestview station, where there's a huge new residential/retail complex, textbook New Urbanism. Almost none of the retail spaces were renter though...not a good sign. Looked like a lot of vacant apartments too.
The ride downtown was not much from a railfan/scenery angle, mostly leafy backyards, pleasant but not the Royal Gorge exactly. Austin was never a big rail or industrial center, so there's none the model railroad urban diorama scenes along the way...old factories, rusty sidings, etc. I got off downtown then got on the same train for the end of the line to Leander.
I was riding in early afternoon so there weren't many passengers. Things picked up as we went along, commuters with laptops who seemed used to the routine. The scenery got better after the Kramer station, with Hill Country oaks and pastures but almost always an office park or condo in sight. One thing I started seeing was huge pink granite blocks along the ROW and I remembered that the line was first built as a narrow gauge in the 1880s to haul stone for the Texas Capitol. When the cars derailed and dumped the blocks there was no way to move them so they left them there.
Nothing to see at the end of the line, just another park and ride, so I walked around until the next train went back to Crestview.
So...the train is very clean, efficient, reliable, etc. but I don't think it's going to have a big impact in Austin unless gas goes to $5 a gallon. It doesn't go near UT or the state government office buildings, though there are a lot of connecting shuttle buses. I think the city was stuck with this route, an old freight line,(which they still share) so unless you live in NW Austin and work downtown it won't do you much good. It's touted as a demonstration line but I hope people don't get fed up with the money and delays in opening and give up on rail. A line to the airport would make a lot of sense but the talk seems to be about using another old SP line out to Manor.
Any other perspectives on this, especially from an Austinite?

In the transit planning community, this was Capital Metro Rail was lamented for being a far inferior route for the sake of lower costs.

http://theoverheadwire.blogspot.com/201 ... steps.html

To be fair though, it was really just built as a "demonstration line" similar to Ottowa's O-train.

Based on personal observation during a trip to Austin last month to visit with one of my sisters who lives in Austin, there does not seem to be any commuter train service in the evenings. Since my wife wanted to eat Mexican food and wash it down with a strawberry daiquiri, my sister took us to the Nuevo Leon restaurant on East Sixth Street. We sat outside on the restaurant patio in back of the restaurant because it was a warm evening. The restaurant's patio is right across Fifth Street from the Plaza Saltillo station and I do not remember seeing any trains go by in either direction the whole time we were at the restaurant. Apparently, there is no train service after a certain time. I did jokingly tease my sister about living in a city which is now "all grown up" because it has commuter train service of its very own now.

Laurence

fauxcelt wrote:Based on personal observation during a trip to Austin last month to visit with one of my sisters who lives in Austin, there does not seem to be any commuter train service in the evenings. Since my wife wanted to eat Mexican food and wash it down with a strawberry daiquiri, my sister took us to the Nuevo Leon restaurant on East Sixth Street. We sat outside on the restaurant patio in back of the restaurant because it was a warm evening. The restaurant's patio is right across Fifth Street from the Plaza Saltillo station and I do not remember seeing any trains go by in either direction the whole time we were at the restaurant. Apparently, there is no train service after a certain time. I did jokingly tease my sister about living in a city which is now "all grown up" because it has commuter train service of its very own now. Laurence

Here's the CapMetroRail schedule.
http://www.capmetro.org/metrorail/schedules.asp
Mon-Thu last train leaves downtown at 6:34 pm
Fri last train leaves downtown at 12:10 am
Sat last train leaves downtown at 12:03 am
So, late night train service depends on which night. I bet you dined either Mon-Thu nights. This is a fairly new train service that's going to take years to build up clients before seeing late night services every night.

Thank you for the link to the schedule, electricron. We ate at Nuevo Leon on a Monday evening and we probably arrived at the restaurant shortly after the last train of the day stopped at the Plaza Saltillo station on its way out from downtown to Leander. After we left the restaurant, my wife and my sister were nice enough to wait for a few minutes while I checked out the station and took a close look at it. The next time we go to Austin to visit, I would like to take a ride on their commuter train.

Laurence