Capital MetroRail is a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) system that serves the Greater Austin area in Texas and is owned by Capital Metro, Austin's primary public transportation provider. The Red Line is Capital Metro's first and currently only rail line, and connects Downtown Austin with Austin's northwestern suburbs. The line operates on of existing freight tracks, and serves nine stations. After a series of delays, Capital MetroRail was inaugurated in March 2010. Capital Metro added Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and evening regularly scheduled service on March 23, 2012. In , the line had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
Several proposals to construct new tracks running through the densest areas of the city have been put forward over the years. Austin voters chose not to commit funds towards the construction of a light rail system in 2000 and 2014, but did do so in 2020. Since then, Capital Metro has been planning new rail lines as part of the Project Connect plan. Construction of the Orange and Blue light rail lines would bring rail service to the western half of Downtown, the University of Texas at Austin, and the city's airport. The Green Line would operate similarly to the Red Line, operating on existing freight tracks between Austin, Manor, and Elgin.
History
Early urban rail efforts
Advocates of modern urban rail began calling on the city of Austin to develop a passenger rail system at the height of the 1970s energy crisis. When voters approved Capital Metro's creation in 1985, the agency was seen not only as the new operator of local bus services, but the developer of a future passenger rail as well. The next year, Capital Metro partnered with the City of Austin to purchase the Giddings-to-Llano Austin and Northwestern Railroad (A&NW) from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company with the express purpose of someday operating passenger rail on it. The purchase price was $9.3 million, of which $6 million came from a grant from the Federal Transit Administration, $0.6 million came from the City of Austin and $2.7 million came from Capital Metro. On May 20, 1998, Capital Metro acquired the City of Austin's share in the railroad for $1 million.
During the 1990s, Capital Metro faced persistent bad publicity that resulted from dysfunctional management and poor accountability. After years of inaction on passenger rail, the Texas Legislature in 1997 stepped in and ordered the public transport provider to hold a referendum on light rail. In response, Capital Metro drew up an ambitious plan for a $1.9 billion, system to be funded by federal funds and local sales taxes. The 2000 proposal's 14-mile "starter segment" would have used the A&NW's right-of-way through Austin from a station at Howard Lane south to another at the Lamar / Airport intersection, then followed Lamar south to Guadalupe Street, and finally run along Guadalupe to serve the university and Downtown. Future phases would have extended passenger rail service along the entire A&NW right-of-way between Downtown and a Leander station, plus new tracks along South Congress Avenue and Riverside Drive.
The 2000 proposal was narrowly defeated by 2,000 votes, receiving support from 49.6% of voters; most of central Austin voted in favor and suburban and exurban areas within the service area voted against.
Red Line and Downtown Station
Capital Metro came back in 2004 with a significantly scaled-down version of its 2000 plan that it hoped voters in Travis County and Williamson County would find more palatable. Rather than a comprehensive network of electric light rail vehicles, Capital Metro proposed a single diesel-fueled commuter rail line which would use the A&NW track between Downtown and Leander. The corridor was chosen for the first line after Capital Metro's Board identified the following areas as probable areas for future growth: the Highland Mall area, the master-planned Mueller Community redevelopment project, as well as the central business district, extending from the University of Texas at Austin to Lady Bird Lake. MetroRail was presented to voters as part of the All Systems Go Long-Range Transit Plan, which also included expanded local and express bus service. The 2004 version was approved by 62% of voters in the service area.