Wear: Why plans for Texas bullet trains are still mostly a dream
November 25th, 2017
November 17, 2017 - Austin American-Statesman - Ben Wear -
Highlights
TxDOT this month approved a first-level environmental study on an Oklahoma-to-Mexico train plan.
But only the center section would be “high speed,” and TxDOT has no money to continue planning the project.
And an East Texas bullet train plan, also undergoing review, is many dollars and untold years from reality.
Not yet.
Almost four years ago in this column, I raised the question of whether it was time to take seriously the prospects of a high-speed passenger rail line being built in this state. My conclusion at the time: No.
Still is.
Even with the Texas Department of Transportation’s release this month of a first-level environmental study on rail in the 550-mile corridor from the Red River to the Rio Grande Valley — and the ongoing privately funded study of a 240-mile Houston-to-Dallas line — I remain skeptical. And I am far from alone, at least in the case of that north-south connection between Oklahoma and Mexico.
Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/wear-why-plans-for-texas-bullet-trains-are-still-mostly-dream/4mg3rwHt6TTWriY1vEY0bN/
Highlights
TxDOT this month approved a first-level environmental study on an Oklahoma-to-Mexico train plan.
But only the center section would be “high speed,” and TxDOT has no money to continue planning the project.
And an East Texas bullet train plan, also undergoing review, is many dollars and untold years from reality.
Not yet.
Almost four years ago in this column, I raised the question of whether it was time to take seriously the prospects of a high-speed passenger rail line being built in this state. My conclusion at the time: No.
Still is.
Even with the Texas Department of Transportation’s release this month of a first-level environmental study on rail in the 550-mile corridor from the Red River to the Rio Grande Valley — and the ongoing privately funded study of a 240-mile Houston-to-Dallas line — I remain skeptical. And I am far from alone, at least in the case of that north-south connection between Oklahoma and Mexico.
Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/wear-why-plans-for-texas-bullet-trains-are-still-mostly-dream/4mg3rwHt6TTWriY1vEY0bN/