All aboard

Mini train at Zilker Park to start chugging again after 4 years

After much anticipation, it looks like the plan is back on track — and so is the train.

Photo courtesy of KVUE

A long saga is set to come to an end on Wednesday: The Austin Parks Foundation says the Zilker Eagle mini train will finally open to the public.

KVUE has been following the train's journey back to Zilker Park for years.

What happened to the Zilker Zephyr?

The beloved Zilker Zephyr train was closed in May 2019 due to storm damage, according to the Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD). Then, in February 2020, the vendor that ran that train said it was closing, in part due to erosion of the tracks and in part due to issues with the PARD.

Shortly after, the PARD assured Austinites that the mini train would chug on, but under new management. A few days later, the city of Austin sued the former operator of the Zilker Zypher to keep it from pulling up the tracks the train sat on.

Later the same month, the Austin City Council approved a resolution to accept "charitable assistance" from anyone who wanted to help save the train.

Where did "Zilker Eagle" come from?

In September 2020, the Austin Parks Foundation (APF) announced a naming contest for the Zilker Zephyr's replacement. In April 2021, officials said the new train would be arriving in Zilker Park that summer and announced its new name would be the Zilker Eagle, a nod to Zilker Park's very first train of 1961.

But that summer 2021 window came and went. In April 2022, the APF said more safety testing needed to be done before the train would be safe for people to ride. In October 2022, crews discovered a braking problem with the train, pushing its progress back again.

In September of last year, brake testing was conducted on the train and the APF said plans to open the train were moving forward. In January of this year, three renovated cars were added to the train. In May, the APF said if upcoming testing went well, the train would be opening to the public very soon.

More than four years later, opening day approaches

On June 10, the APF announced that the Zilker Eagle will open to the public on Wednesday, June 12, departing from the Train Depot at 2131 1/2 William Barton Drive. The train will be open daily from 10 am to 6 pm.

"We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Austin to the tracks of the new Zilker Eagle this summer," APF CEO Colin Wallis said.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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Top of the class

UT Austin ranks among best U.S. schools for entrepreneurship in 2025

UT Austin, University of Texas at Austin, top Texas schools, best public universities, best colleges

Photo by Alexander Williams on Unsplash

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The University of Texas at Austin has earned two top-10 spots on The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s lists of the best graduate and undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies for 2025.

UT Austin's McCombs School of Business ranks seventh in the graduate category, and UT ranks second in the undergraduate category.

The school is no stranger to the prestigious national lists. In the 2024 rankings, UT also appeared as No. 2 among undergraduate programs, and No. 6 in the ranking for the best graduate programs.

This year marks the fourth time that the school has landed in the top 5 on the undergraduate side, and the 12th time in 15 years that McCombs has made the top 10 among graduate programs in the annual ranking, UT notes in a news release.

The only other schools in Texas to make either top-10 list for 2025 were Rice University (No. 1 graduate school) and the University of Houston (No. 1 undergraduate program).

Rankings for The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s 2025 lists were based on a survey of administrators at nearly 300 schools in the U.S., Canada, and Europe that offer entrepreneurship studies. Among the more than 40 factors used for the rankings were academic programs, faculty credentials, mentorship opportunities, and alumni entrepreneurship ventures.

"If the focus of the MBA program at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin were to be summed up in one word, it would be 'collaboration,'" reads the 2025 graduate schools report. "Students in more than 20 concentrations uniformly crow over its 'incredibly collaborative culture,' citing the 'supportive culture' as a top reason they ultimately picked the program. As a 'top 20 school,' the 'rigorous academic[s]' and 'focus on clean energy,' 'technology,' and 'entrepreneurship,' are other stand-out elements of the program."

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. Rice University
2. University of California-Los Angeles
3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
4. Washington University in St. Louis
5. Babson College
6. University of Washington
7. University of Texas at Austin
8. University of Virginia
9. Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands
10. University of South Florida

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. University of Houston
2. University of Texas at Austin
3. Babson College
4. University of Washington
5. Washington University in St. Louis
6. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
7. University of Maryland-College Park
8. Miami University of Ohio
9. Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico
10. Northeastern University

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The story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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