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Conference
Sponsors
Permian Basin Railway
Endorsements
High Performance Railroads: Interstate II for the 21st Century
800 Jaguar Lane * Dallas * Texas * 75226
www.TexasRailAdvocates.org
Our mission is to accelerate Texas's economic growth and enhance the quality of life enjoyed by its people by advancing the development of rail service to its full potential as a carrier of freight and passengers. |
2009 Theme:
Fast Tracking Texas Trains
We are happy to announce that the 2009 conference was held in conjunction with the Railroad Passenger Car Alliance annual conference.
Conference Location Info.
The conference was held at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, 400 N. Olive, Dallas, Texas, 75201, (214) 922-8000. The optional Thurs. evening meal was on Jan. 15th in the Majestic Room. The main conference was held on Friday, Jan. 16th in the Lone Star Room.
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Presenters
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Danielle Valentino, Field Director with Go21. |
Josh Coran, Director of Operations, Talgo
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Linda Koop, Chair of the Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments |
Steve Roescher, Director, Business Development, Wstern Region, Siemans Transporation Systems, Inc. |
David Erinakes, Texas Senate Committee on Homeland Security and on staff with Senator John Corona |
Agenda for Jan 15-16:
Optional Thursday Evening Pre-conference Dinner and Speaker:
Tom Leppert, Mayor of Dallas
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Welcome:
Jay Barksdale,
Dallas Chamber of CommerceOpening Remarks:
Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator and currently with the University of Denver
Rail Expansion to Accomodate Incresaed Traffic
Danielle Vaelntino
Go21A Texas Vision:
Phil Russell, TxDOT
Rail Expansion to Accommodate Increased Traffic:
Joseph Hughes, GO21
North Texas Perspective:
Linda Koop, Chair of the Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments
Union Pacific Railroad:
Clint Schelbitzki
BNSF Railway:
D.J. Mitchell
Lunch:
David Laney , former Texas Transportation Commission Chairman and former Chairman of the Board of Amtrak
A Bright Future for High Speed Rail:
Hal Cooper, Cooper Engineering [Due to family emergency, presentation was given by Paul Mangelsdorf]
Talgo, a Key Player in the Development of High Speed Rail:
Josh Coran, Talgo
Tower 55: Improving the Flow of Rail Traffic:
Jungus Jordan, Fort Worth Councilman, and Michael Haverty
Linda Harper-Brown
Recent developments in light rail & regional rail equipment
Steve Roescher, Director,
Business Development,
Western Region,
Siemens
Corridor Map
Who should attend?
Civil Engineers, shippers, local, county and state officials, Politicians, Chambers of Commerce, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Commercal real estate developers, architects, Council of Governments, rail industry suppliers, and advocates for improving freight and passenger rail in Texas.
Location
The Sheraton Dallas Hotel in downtown Dallas (formerly known as the Adams Mark Hotel) at 400 Olive Street.
A block of rooms has been set aside for Conference attendees. Our Conference room rate is $124 + tax per night (single, double, triple, quad). Make your reservations directly with the hotel, by calling 1-888-627-8191. Since this is a joint conference, you must and tell the reservationist that you are participating in the Railroad Passenger Car Alliance Conference to get the special discount rate.
What to Expect
The conference is the 5th of a series of annual conferences supporting the federally designated South Central High Speed Rail (SCHSR) Corridor. The conference brings together government professionals, private industry, and the general public to discuss the future of improved rail in the southwest, and in particular, along the SCHSR Corridor.
This corridor is one of eleven federally designated corridors, but Texas is in last place for development, our goal to have transportation studies completed, the first step to realizing improved rail. We recognize that for all practical purposes, public/private partnerships are the future. Rail companies own Right of Way and their trackage infrastructure that they pay hefty taxes on while roads and other transportation modes are largely underwitten by government and are tax exempt. consideration to the Railroads (and their online shippers) in terms of tax relief would go a long way towards enhancement of today's physical plant. The industry has been in a shrink, consolidate mode for 50 years due to the tax burdens, double tracks and alternative routes have been shed in an effort to lighten the regulator load. Today we need that lost capacity and TRA works to enlighten the stakeholders.
Technology today enables operation of more trains on these tracks with enhanced signaling and train controls. Enhanced operations will provide opportunities for passenger train traffic in concert with the exploding freight volumes. Rail expansion is primarily on existing row so environmental and NIMBY boondoggles are largely avoided and happen in the 1-3 million per mile range versus most other modes that often average 50 million a mile (while shrinking local tax bases).
The conference offers speakers from rail companies, government officials, planners and rail advocacy groups. This promotes better communication and understanding of the steps necessary for high performance rail to become reality along the SCHSR Corridor.
TRA Conference History
Tom Leppert
Linda Harper Brown, Texas State Representative
DJ Mitchell, BNSF Railway Assistant Vice President, Passenger Services
Gilbert Carmichael: Senior Chairman, Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver; Former FRA Administrator.
Hal Cooper, President, Cooper Engineering - "Why the first try at High Speed Rail in Texas failed and what we can learn from it" [Due to family emergency, could not make it and Paul Mangelsdorf gave his presentation for him]
Jungus Jordan, Council Member with the City of Fort Worth. 
David Laney, former Texas Transportation Commission Chair and former Amtrak Chairman of the Board
Phil Russell, Assistant Executive Director for Innovative Project Development TxDOT
Clint Schelbitzki, Director of Public Affairs, Union Pacific Railroad