Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Rather than taking a plane or a limo to the nation's capital for their inauguration, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Washington by train. When he was a senator, Biden commuted regularly on Amtrak for more than three decades from his home in Delaware.

While they have embraced the train as an effective mode of transportation, Obama and Biden also have embraced improving our nation's passenger and freight rail infrastructure. So have many Republicans on Capitol Hill. Nowhere is the need for that improvement more apparent than in Texas.

Texas has more miles of freight rail tracks than any other state, and Texas industry has relied heavily on rail to move products and people. And rail use — freight rail, commuter rail, high-speed rail — promises to intensify as Texas' population and trade keep growing.

But our stressed freight rail network threatens to derail the Texas economy; some of our rail lines were built more than 130 years ago and need to be replaced, rerouted or upgraded. Clogged or insufficient freight rail lines are hindering movement of goods, congesting roadway intersections in urban areas and threatening population centers through spills and accidents. Moreover, in a state that is projected to double in population over the next two decades, too few cities are connected by regular, reliable passenger rail service.

Texas and the rest of the nation are woefully behind in terms of the effective use of rail. We can't solve our transportation problems without making rail — freight and passenger — a key component of the system. The current legislative session is a good place to start.

Nearly four years ago, Texas voters approved creation of the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund. But state lawmakers have not yet acted on the public will by providing money for the fund — despite supportive testimony, resolutions from many cities and counties, and the urging of editorial boards. We can't afford a "business as usual" approach to transportation (roads, roads and more roads). Legislators must address the issue this session.

Putting just $200 million into the fund could generate $2 billion in bond authorization. The money would go a long way toward ensuring that our state's rail infrastructure meets the needs of a 21st century economy.

To enhance our state's investment in rail, money from the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund could be coupled with millions of dollars that will flow to Texas through the federal economic stimulus package. Additionally, under legislation passed last year, passenger rail infrastructure improvements now qualify for federal matches of 80 percent. This means that putting money into the state rail fund would let Texas capture millions of dollars that otherwise might go elsewhere.

However it is paid for, relocating freight rail tracks away from densely populated areas in Texas would allow commuter trains to take over the old tracks, thereby removing vehicles from crowded roads, reducing air pollution and saving money on road construction and maintenance. Furthermore, freight rail shipments would travel much more quickly along new or upgraded existing tracks.

Any state funding for rail relocation and improvement projects in Texas would be balanced with private investments from the railroads. Railroads alone cannot tackle the immense, expensive job of upgrading the state's rail system. A public-private approach is smart.

If money is not allotted for the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund, our state likely will fail to realize billions of dollars worth of benefits from rail infrastructure improvements. Rail must be a major piece of the solution to our transportation challenges. The economic livelihood of our state depends on it.

Todd, a former Austin mayor, is executive director of the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association.