$63.9MM Grant Rescinded From Texas High-Speed Rail Project
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
The Shinkansen, or Japanese bullet train, pulls into a station in Japan. This is the type of train proposed for the Texas Central.
David C. Lester
HOUSTON - The FRA pulls $63.9 million in federal funds from the proposed Texas High-Speed Rail project that sought to add a high-speed rail route from Houston to Dallas.
Previously, RT&S reported that the “Texas state legislature had prepared a bill to prevent the construction of high-speed rail service between Houston and Dallas from interfering with or altering existing roads or highways.”
Now, plans for high-speed rail between the two cities face another hurdle. The FRA has rescinded a $63.9 million grant to Amtrak for said project. The Amtrak Texas High-speed Rail Corridor cost estimate has grown to more than $40 billion, and Texas Central had turned to Amtrak to explore options. According to a report in ENR, the FRA had awarded Amtrak the grant last year by way of a program that seeks to “establish new routes, restore service on former intercity passenger rail routes and enhance service on existing routes.”
However, those involved with the project have not given up. According to KHOU 11, Texas Central lead investor, Kleinheinz Capital Partners, gave the following statement: “We agree with (US Transportation Secretary Sean) Duffy that this project should be led by the private sector, and we will be proud to take it forward. This project is shovel-ready and will create significant new jobs and economic growth for Texas as part of President Trump’s efforts to boost the U.S. economy.”
Texas Central representative Andy Gent did not have much new information regarding a final timeline, according to the Dallas Morning News. Gent said, “We’re not prepared to say go, but the schedule would look as follows if we said go: We think it’ll roughly take six months to complete the kind of finalization of the planning effort. . . and that involves relooking at the road, relooking at the utilities, and relooking at all the disruption that’s going to take place over the 240-mile segment. . . During that time period, we would be working on the financing, we would be working on the application for the Surface Transportation Board final permit, and we would anticipate that we could get that stuff done, let’s say by the end of the year. . . If all of that stuff is approved by the end of this year, the build schedule we think will take between 80 and 86 months.”
Additional Reading
Railway Age Contributing Editor David Peter Alan wrote a commentary on April 16th titled “Texas HSR: Amtrak Out! New Investor In? Thirteenth of a Series”
