The developers of a high speed bullet train between Houston and Dallas were recently notified by the Federal Railway Administration that it can be built along high-voltage power lines.
While the Texas Central Railway (TCR) conducts an environmental review as part of finalizing its alignment, there continues to be opposition.
Brazos County state senator Charles Schwertner, speaking at last week’s Chamber of Commerce economic outlook luncheon, says the privately funded TCR is “already looking for various federal programs that augment their financing.”
Schwertner says the trains can’t provide an economic development benefit to affected landowners in 11 counties, of which five are in his district.
Schwertner says if TCR gets it built and they run out of money, there are 40 House members from Houston and 40 more from the Dallas-Fort Worth area that will vote to keep the trains running.
Click below for comments from Charles Schwertner:
E-mail sent from Texas Central Partners CEO Tim Keith:
Tim Keith: My First Month as CEO
As I consider my first month as CEO at Texas Central, I do so with a huge amount of gratitude. I want to take a moment to thank the many community and business leaders, elected officials and stakeholders with whom I have had an opportunity to visit. I appreciate you taking time to share your thoughts with me. Your insights have reinforced the importance of this project to the state and to the communities we want to serve. I know Texans have many questions, comments, concerns and good ideas. We want to hear them. In the meantime, I’d like to share some of the project’s recent developments and upcoming milestones.
Environmental Review Progress: Focus on Utility Corridor
We understand a lot of people are eager to learn the exact location of the final train route. The process to determine this is thorough and lengthy. Last week, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the agency leading the ongoing environmental review of the project, published a technical report related to the potential high-speed rail corridors. The report concludes the “Utility Corridor” is the preferred corridor from an environmental perspective because this Corridor is feasible with lesser environmental impacts. It is referred to as the Utility Corridor because the potential alignments (track locations) associated with this Corridor generally follow existing high-voltage electrical transmission lines. With the publication of this report by the FRA, the focus now turns in earnest to examining those potential alignments associated with the Utility Corridor.
As we work through the environmental review process, Texas Central is committed to sharing updates, so that anyone interested in the project will have access to the latest information.
The Team is Growing: Welcome Brady Redwine
I’m pleased to share that we continue to build our staff and leadership teams in Dallas and Houston. Brady Redwine has joined Texas Central as a Vice President in the Dallas office. He will lead the efforts to study and communicate the economic impact of the project on communities, will join the team working on station development and will manage a variety of special projects. Brady is a native Texan and a proud Aggie with a diverse background that includes real estate, finance, research and entrepreneurial investing. His skills and leadership are critical to the project as we move forward.
North Texas Leaders Pledge Support for Public HSR
Also last week, our friends at the North Central Texas Council of Governments announced that the Regional Transportation Council (RTC), the regional transportation policy board for North Texas, voted to allocate $4.5 million towards additional planning studies for a proposed Fort Worth/Arlington/Dallas high-speed rail project. This separate, public effort led by TxDOT’s Commission for High-Speed Rail in Dallas/Fort Worth and the RTC is an important project for the North Texas region.
Texas Central’s project is privately developed, predominately by Texas-based investors, and has not applied for or received any government funding. As such, Texas Central will not receive any of these funds. However, Texas Central has proposed station locations in Dallas that would facilitate further connectivity, ultimately allowing for Fort Worth/Arlington to Houston high-speed rail travel if both projects move through funding and construction.
We applaud the Region’s continued support of transportation innovation to address the needs of a growing population in North Texas.
On the Horizon: Texas Central’s upcoming activities
The next several months will bring a lot of activity for Texas Central, as the team and I continue meeting with stakeholders, planners and elected officials. We are planning a series of open house meetings for this fall in communities along the study corridor.
Look for more details in the coming weeks, as we will be inviting the public to visit with us and our technical experts and learn more details about this important project. Our team wants to answer your questions. We look forward to hearing from you!