A high-speed rail line between Austin and San Antonio would cost about $13.5 billion to build, according to a recent feasibility study commissioned by Travis County Commissioners Court.
The study conducted by HNTB Corporation assessed the potential of a high-speed rail route between Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the Amtrak station in San Antonio along State Highway 130 and Interstate 10. The proposed route would run at about 125 miles per hour with a travel time of about an hour between the two cities.
Travis County approved $125,000 to fund the feasibility study in October 2025.
The proposed 89-mile route presents challenges because of the many cross-street overpasses and an existing right-of-way that has minimal space to accommodate the rail route. These challenges contribute to the $13.5 billion price tag by requiring much of the route to be elevated.
The high-speed rail would also cost $190 million to operate and maintain annually, according to the report.
The feasibility study did not include ridership or fare estimates for the proposed high-speed rail line.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown believes passenger rail is important given the region’s population growth.
“Today, we’ve got about 5 million people here in the…Travis County-Bexar County mega region. We’re supposed to have about 8 million by 2050,” Brown said in an interview with KUT News. “And just having one highway, no matter how great it is, in between those two areas isn’t enough.”
Michelle Meaux, the long-range planning manager for Travis County, told the commissioners court when the study was approved that it was meant to complement a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) study, also by HNTB, that focused on the Interstate 35 corridor.
That study, released in June, examined increasing passenger rail service along existing railroad tracks and identified the infrastructure that would be needed, capital and operating cost estimates, and potential ridership.
The trains would run at just under 80 miles per hour, with the trip taking about two hours.
Capital cost estimates for the increased passenger rail would range from $800 million to $1.89 billion, depending on the number of trips per day and station locations. The study included operational and maintenance costs for only the eight-trip-per-day scenario starting in 2045. Those costs would be about $60 million annually.
With increased passenger service, the TxDOT study proposed a range of 451 to 2,227 passengers between San Antonio and Austin daily.
Union Pacific, which uses the existing railroad tracks for freight trains, responded to the TxDOT study.
“Past efforts have found the existing freight corridor is not sufficient to accommodate both freight and passenger demand,” Robynn Tysver told KUT News on behalf of Union Pacific. “We believe that is still the case today, and we are focused on serving our customers and taking trucks off the state’s congested highways.”