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Last week, the Texas House passed a measure that would allocate $91 million annually for the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval.

Funding would be generated through existing transportation-related fees. Undedicated money from the state highway fund would be placed in the rail relocation and improvement fund, which was created through a voter-approved constitutional amendment in 2005, but has never been financed by the legislature.

The funding would create a revenue stream that could leverage billions of dollars in bonding authority to improve transportation safety, ease congestion at hundreds of crossings, increase freight-rail capacity, and open up existing freight lines for passenger traffic, according to the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Association.