[10] A competing service, the Bayou City Street Railway, was started in 1883 with a single route along Texas Avenue, but it was purchased and folded into HCSR later that year.

In Stage 1, 40 mi (64 km) of rapid transit routes would be built, including fixed rail lines serving the southwest, west, and northeast parts of Houston (with a downtown subway), and three bus-exclusive lanes along the North, Gulf, and South freeways.

[22][23][24] Light voter turnout was blamed for the defeat of the $2.35 billion proposal, which included the purchase of approximately 400 new buses and construction of a 18.5 mi (29.8 km) heavy rail system.

[32]: 113–114  In 1991, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay removed $65 million in federal funding for the rail line and after Lanier was elected mayor of Houston in 1992, defeating Whitmire, the plan was stopped.

[35]: 5  The Houston city council approved the light rail project in November 2000 and set a January 25, 2001 date for a groundbreaking ceremony, but councilmember Rob Todd filed a lawsuit opposing construction, claiming the METRO organization was a "private business" and subject to Houston City Charter provisions requiring a public vote on business use of its streets;[36][37] the ceremony was cancelled following a temporary restraining order, issued by Judge Tony Lindsay on January 18.

[38][39] Todd was joined as co-plaintiff by Allan Vogel, one of 1,100 residents who signed a petition seeking a public vote on the light rail plan.

She was succeeded by District Judge John P. Devine,[38] who issued an injunction on February 2, halting work on the light rail project and holding up contract awards.

[51] Tom DeLay strongly opposed construction of the METRORail line and twice blocked federal funding for the system in the United States House of Representatives.

[23] Thus the Metrorail was built without any federal funding until November 2011 when a $900 million grant was approved for expansions, under an executive order issued by President Barack Obama.

[63] Critics further claimed that the main political action committee (PAC) supporting the bond had a conflict of interest because it received over US$100,000 in contributions from contractors and equipment suppliers for METRORail who stood to gain financially from its expansion.

[63] By 2004, Rep. DeLay was hailing the leadership team at METRO for both its "vision for a mobile Houston region, and the kind of open minds and flexible management style it will take to realize that vision", adding that "[METRO] are holding a forum to look at all forms of technology and how those technologies fit into the mobility in Houston"; at least one observer noted that DeLay was advocating for "innovative rail solutions", not light rail.

Allegations were made that METRO lied about the income from their sales tax revenue to allow them to gain $900 million in federal funds for all five planned rail expansions.

[73] However, city officials found no such attempt by METRO to mislead them,[74] but the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) continued to withhold its approval for the money until further figures can be examined.

[77] Part of the funding allocated by the FTA under its New Starts program for the North, Southeast, and University Corridor projects included up to US$205 million to expand the LRV fleet to 104 vehicles and replace the existing 19 LRVs on the Red Line.

[83] After numerous delays, all but two stations on the eastern end of the Green Line opened on May 23, 2015,[72] while Cesar Chavez/67th Street and Magnolia Park [84] entered service on January 11, 2017 after the construction of an overpass.

A Major Investment Study for the Katy Freeway Expansion was started in 1994 and approved in October 1997; the draft and final environmental impact statements were completed by August 30, 2002.

[87]: 2, 28  In preparation, TxDOT purchased a portion of the right-of-way for the old Katy Railroad from Union Pacific (UP) in 1992 for $78 million,[88] and the UP was scheduled to begin track removal in the last half of 1997.

Shortly after the purchase was completed, business interests pressured METRO into selling a portion of the right-of-way to the Harris County Toll Road Authority, which was eventually developed into the Westpark Tollway.

[96]: 127–128  By 2006, a proposed revised corridor along Richmond was drawing opposition from local business owners and Texas Rep. Martha Wong, who advocated for a route along Westpark instead.

The line had received a final Federal Record of Decision letter from the FTA in July[98] but METRO had not announced a construction schedule or funding plan.

This was not constructed, but the METRONext plan includes a similar route extended to Sugar Land which it describes as a "future METRORail potential partnership.

Northbound trains run on San Jacinto Street (rather than Fannin) for a small section of the route between the Wheeler and Museum District stations.

[128] Paper transfers from buses were accepted from July 2015 to March 2016 on a trial basis boarded for free: before noon good until 15:00, after it to end of service day.

[146] A subsequent investigation by the Federal Transit Administration determined the procurement violated the Buy America Act,[78] and the US$42 million order was cancelled in February 2011.

[147] In the spring of 2011, METRO purchased a further 19 Siemens S70 vehicles (the same model as its original 18), citing the need to accommodate ridership that was 4 years ahead of expectations and to get cars more quickly.

In September 2011, METRO approved the purchase of 39 vehicles from CAF upon receipt of a new proposal compliant with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and "Buy America" guidelines.

In February 2019, METRO ordered 14 additional Siemens S700 vehicles (H4), with interior modifications designed to improve passenger flow compared to the agency's prior H1 and H2 series S70s.

"[164] METRO has consistently blamed driver error as the cause of the high collision rate and the transit agency's police department regularly tickets motorists who cross paths with the train.

Following the Texas A&M report, METRO implemented four-way red lights at some crossings and other safety measures which led to a 75% reduction in incidents per train mile even as service ramped up.

[166] Critics have also noted the fact that the system is at-grade, while supporters contend that lack of federal funding due to political opposition made construction of a grade separated rail line unfeasible.