Texans know how bad big-city traffic can be, and various proposals to widen highways never seem to provide adequate remedies. So, why not turn to trains?
The long-anticipated high-speed rail project to connect Houston and Dallas — for decades nothing more than a rumor — is finally taking concrete shape, Houston Public Media reported.
The 240-mile line would include a stop in the College Station area and boast a travel time of less than 90 minutes at 205 mph.
The latest news comes after investment via the Biden administration's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which awarded Amtrak a $63.9 million grant through the Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration to plan and develop the idea.
The company only entered the conversation in April after it inked a non-binding agreement with Texas Central, who created the plan, but it is already moving the needle. Amtrak and the Japanese government are in talks to use the N700S Series Shinkansen train for the line.
"The Shinkansen has a flawless — flawless — safety record," senior vice president of high-speed rail development Andy Byford said at a conference in April. "It has not had one single train-caused fatality in its whole operation since 1964. It's remarkable. And that's because what you're buying is a system."
The project is in the last stage of the FRA Corridor Identification and Development Program, per HPM.
Byford touted features including removing 12,500 vehicles from Interstate 45 every day and the fastest average train journey in the world (without the intermediate stop). He was confident in its success, saying it would benefit all Texans and the environment and spur other cities to "clamor" for high-speed railways.
It's the wave of the future as governments look to improve quality of life and reduce the heat-trapping pollution associated with gas-powered vehicle travel.
In Germany, for example, an all-electric train recently rode the rails for the first time. In the United States, California is building its first high-speed railway, and Florida already has an expanding rail network.
"If we are successful in putting together that funding package … then we will be looking to open in the early 2030s, and that includes testing, commissioning, trial operations, and everything else that you have to do," Byford said. "So, watch this space. There are still a lot of big hurdles to overcome, but I really do think that this, if we can pull it off, will be an absolute jewel in Texas' crown."
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