December 7, 2018 - RailwayAge.com -

Despite producing more than one-third of U.S. crude oil output, urbanization, rapid economic growth and congestion mean Texans could be getting out of their cars and on to high-speed trains much sooner than most other Americans, if Texas Central Railway’s plan to link Dallas and Houston without one penny of public funding is successful.

With 28.3 million residents, Texas is the second-most populous state in the U.S. Much of the population is concentrated in and around Houston and North Texas, an area encompassing Dallas, Fort Worth, Garland and Irving. Dallas-Fort Worth is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., while Houston and The Woodlands is fifth.

These are among the most dynamic regional economies in North America. According to a recent study by Headlight Data, Dallas-Fort Worth was the fifth fastest-growing metropolitan area in the U.S. in 2016. Only New York has more Fortune 500 headquarters than Houston, which has one of the fastest-growing and youngest populations of any U.S. city.

Read more: https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/high-performance/texas-central-trailblazing-privately-funded-hsr/