April 15, 2025 - TRA Newswire -

Yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that Amtrak will no longer head up the Dallas-Houston high-speed rail project and will step aside so better equipped private sector interests can move the plan forward. A Fort-Worth based investment house said that they are shovel-ready to proceed. 

Amtrak's planning work for the project will be turned over to Texas Central, the private concern that they had partnered with over the past two years.

In a statement sent to Texas Rail Advocates, Kleinheinz Capital Partners of Fort Worth announced “We are proud to have stepped in as the private sector sponsor of the Texas high-speed rail, and today’s announcement is good news for the overall project. The first Trump Administration gave this project the green light, but after President Trump left office the project got hung up in the politics of the Biden Administration’s efforts to jam Amtrak and politics into the equation. We agree with Secretary 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.”

Kleinheinz Capital Partners recently announced that they had purchased the financial interests of Japanese investors and had become the lead investment sponsor in the Texas Central bullet train project.

Thursday morning, Kleinheinz spokesperson Andy Jent will testify before the Texas House Transportation Committee. The committee issued a subpoena for Texas Central records at its April 3rd hearing after committee members grilled Jent for detailed financial information from the private company. Jent indicated that since Kleinheinz is in process of putting together financing for the project, much of the information is at a very sensitive stage and could be misinterpreted or misused by opponents. 

The bullet train project stalled in 2020 due to the pandemic and while Texas Central waded through an extended period of court battles, the Texas Supreme Court finally declared that the railroad did have eminent domain authority to acquire right-of-way

Amtrak started working with the high-speed railroad in 2023 and took over the planning phase in 2024, applying for and receiving a Corridor Identification and Development Program grant from the Federal Railroad Administration for $63.9 million dollars. Transportation Secretary Duffy, in cancelling the grant yesterday, indicated that the private sector is better equipped to take any risk in a mega-project rather than taxpayers.

Amtrak consultants had been working on the second step of a three step Corridor ID plan and, as Texas Rail Advocates urstands, the draft version has just been completed. Sources indicate it will show that there is a significant increase in projections for ridership and viability of the high-speed rail project. The work effort will be turned over to Texas Central as the plans for building the 240-mile long line move forward.

Andy Byford, noted transportation executive hired by Amtrak to lead the Texas high-speed rail program, said that he is personally and professionally disappointed by the USDOT announcement, but still believes that the Dallas to Houston bullet train line is a superior project that should be built. Byford was responsible for bringing the multi-billion dollar London Crossrail project online and has been involved with major rail transportation projects worldwide. 

Opposition from some rural politicians and landowners continues to be fierce and has resulted in several anti high-speed-rail bills filed in the current Texas legislative session. Texas Rail Advocates has already voiced opposition at the state capitol to the bills designed to kill the project.

Only two bills made it through the Texas legislature and into law in past sessions. One specifies that no state funds may be used for a high-speed rail project and the other is for safety and security of high-speed trains. 

Photo credit: Texas Central