Happening Now
RailNation: San Antonio
Date
Friday, October 3, 2025 Sunday, October 5, 2025
Location
Holiday Inn San Antonio-Riverwalk 217 N St Mary's St San Antonio TX 78205
EVENT REGISTRATION
Registration is now closed.
Hotel registration is now closed.
This outline will be updated frequently by staff as the meeting comes together. NOTE: Times & topics may change.
Friday, October 3rd
- 1:00–3:00pm
- Regional Organizing Session & Council Committee Time
- Members on their own
- Not organized by staff
- Regional Organizing Session & Council Committee Time
Saturday, Oct 4th
MC/Host: Jim Mathews, Rail Passengers President + CEO
- 7:00–8:00am
- Registration/Breakfast
- 8:00–8:15am
- Opening Remarks
- Meredith Richards, Rail Passengers Chairwoman
- Opening Remarks
- 8:15–8:20am
- Welcome Address
- Gina Ortiz Jones, Mayor, San Antonio
- Welcome Address
- 8:25–9:00am
- Local Advocacy Presentation
- Jesse Harasta, Co-Chair, San Antonians for Rail Transit (SART)
- Samuel Haas, Co-Chair, San Antonians for Rail Transit (SART)
- Local Advocacy Presentation
- 9:00–10:00am
- Leadership Panel (hosted by TRA President Peter LeCody)
- Andy Brown, Travis County Judge (Austin)
- Tommy Calvert, Commissioner (Precint 4), Bexar County
- Dennis Geesaman, Former Mayor, Flatonia, TX
- Leadership Panel (hosted by TRA President Peter LeCody)
- 10:00–10:10am
- BREAK
- 10:10–11:00am
- State Presentation
- Caroline A Mays, Director of Planning and Modal Programs, TxDOT
- State Presentation
- 11:00–11:45am
- Grassroots Advocacy and Best Practices
- Mitch Radakovich, Chair, All Aboard Ohio
- Grassroots Advocacy and Best Practices
- 11:45am–1:00pm
- Lunch - w/ Keynote Speaker
- Roger Harris, President, Amtrak
- Lunch - w/ Keynote Speaker
- 1:00–1:45pm
- Rail Passengers Data Presentation
- John Christoph, Rail Passengers
- Rail Passengers Data Presentation
- 1:45–2:30pm
- Southern Rail Commission: Updates from the Gulf Coast/I-20 Corridor
- John Robert Smith, T4A Chairman
- Southern Rail Commission: Updates from the Gulf Coast/I-20 Corridor
- 2:30–2:45pm
- Break
- 2:45–3:45pm
- Amtrak Presentation
- Todd Stennis, Government Affairs Director (South)
- Amtrak Presentation
- 3:45–4:30pm
- Closing “Fireside Chat”
- Jim Mathews
- Elaine Clegg, CEO Valley Regional Transit & Amtrak Board Director
- Closing “Fireside Chat”
- 4:30pm
- Conference Closes
Sunday, Oct 5th
- 8:00am-12:00pm
- Council Business Meeting
- Afternoon
- Self-guided tours
"It is an honor to be recognized by the Rail Passengers Association for my efforts to strengthen and expand America’s passenger rail. Golden spikes were once used by railroads to mark the completion of important rail projects, so I am truly grateful to receive the Golden Spike Award as a way to mark the end of a career that I’ve spent fighting to invest in our country’s rail system. As Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it has been my priority to bolster funding for Amtrak, increase and expand routes, look to the future by supporting high-speed projects, and improve safety, culminating in $66 billion in new funding in the Bipartisan infrastructure Law."
Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
March 30, 2022, on receiving the Association's Golden Spike Award for his years of dedication and commitment to passenger rail.