Texas Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Railroads=== [[File:Westmoreland Station August 2019 5.jpg|thumb|[[DART Light Rail]] in Dallas]] [[File:METRO Light Rail3.jpg|thumb|[[METRORail]] in Houston]] {{See also|List of Texas railroads}}Part of the state's [[Cowboy#Texas tradition|tradition]] of cowboys is derived from the massive [[Cattle drives in the United States|cattle drives]] which its ranchers organized in the nineteenth century to [[Cattle drives in the United States|drive]] livestock to railroads and markets. The first railroad to operate in Texas was the [[Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway]], opening in August 1853.<ref>{{cite Handbook of Texas |first=George C. |last=Werner |id=eqb16 |title=Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway |date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> The first railroad to enter Texas from the north, completed in 1872, was the {{nowrap|[[Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad]]}}.<ref>{{cite Handbook of Texas |first=Donovan L. |last=Hofsommer |id=eqm08 |title=Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad |date=June 15, 2010}}</ref> With increasing railroad access, the ranchers did not have to take their livestock up to the Midwest and shipped beef out from Texas. This caused a decline in the economies of the cow towns.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Western Economic Expansion: Railroads and Cattle |work=US History II (American Yawp)|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/ushistory2ay/chapter/western-economic-expansion-railroads-and-cattle-2/|accessdate=December 28, 2020|publisher=Lumen Learning}}</ref> Since 1911, Texas has led the nation in length of railroad miles within the state. Texas railway length peaked in 1932 at {{convert|17078|mi|km}}, but declined to {{convert|14006|mi|km}} by 2000. While the [[Railroad Commission of Texas]] originally regulated state railroads, in 2005 the state reassigned these duties to TxDOT.<ref name="RRCMove">{{cite web|title=Former Rail Division |publisher=Texas Railroad Commission |date=October 1, 2005 |url=http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/divisions/rail_moved/index.html?/rail.html |access-date=May 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506073304/http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/divisions/rail_moved/index.html?%2Frail.html |archive-date=May 6, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the Dallas–Fort Worth area, three public transit agencies provide rail service: [[Dallas Area Rapid Transit]] (DART), [[Denton County Transportation Authority]] (DCTA), and [[Trinity Metro]]. DART began operating the first light rail system in the Southwest United States in 1996.<ref name="DARTLightRail">{{cite news |last=Myerson |first=Allen R. |date=June 14, 1996 |title=Dallas Opening Southwest's First Rail Transit |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01EFD81739F937A25755C0A960958260 |access-date=May 11, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919043630/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01EFD81739F937A25755C0A960958260 |archive-date=September 19, 2008}}</ref> The [[Trinity Railway Express]] (TRE) [[commuter rail]] service, which connects Fort Worth and Dallas, is provided by [[Trinity Metro]] and DART.<ref name="TRE">{{cite web |title=Trinity Railroad Express |url=http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org/ |access-date=June 11, 2008}}</ref> Trinity Metro also operates the [[TEXRail]] commuter rail line, connecting downtown Fort Worth and Northeast Tarrant County to DFW Airport.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 4, 2019|title=TEXRail to begin service Thursday after delay due to government shutdown|work=WFAA|url=https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/tarrant-county/texrail-to-begin-service-thursday-after-delay-due-to-government-shutdown/287-626199928|access-date=April 10, 2019}}</ref> The [[A-train (Denton County)|A-train]] commuter rail line, operated by DCTA, acts as an extension of the DART Green line into Denton County.<ref>{{cite web |title=DART inMotion 2011 |url=https://www.dart.org/about/inmotion/fall11/4.htm |access-date=April 10, 2019}}</ref> In the Austin area, [[Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority]] operates a commuter rail service known as [[Capital MetroRail]] to the northwestern suburbs. The [[Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas]] (METRO) operates light rail lines called [[METRORail]] in the Houston area.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About METRO|url=https://www.ridemetro.org:443/Pages/AboutMetro.aspx|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=ridemetro.org|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Amtrak]] provides Texas with limited intercity passenger rail service. Three scheduled routes serve the state: the daily ''[[Texas Eagle]]'' {{nowrap|(Chicago–San Antonio)}}; the tri-weekly ''[[Sunset Limited]]'' {{nowrap|(New Orleans–Los Angeles)}}, with stops in Texas; and the daily ''[[Heartland Flyer]]'' {{nowrap|(Fort Worth–Oklahoma City)}}. Texas may get one of the nation's first [[high-speed rail]] line. Plans for a privately funded high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston have been planned by the [[Texas Central Railway]] company.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Garnham|first=Juan Pablo|date=September 21, 2020|title=High-speed train between Dallas and Houston gets federal approval|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/21/dallas-houston-high-speed-train/|access-date=December 28, 2020|website=The Texas Tribune}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page