Federal Studies Announced for Texas High-Speed Rail between Houston and Dallas
SAN ANTONIO — The federal government, Texas and a private company are collectively working on two studies to assess the impact of a high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx confirmed Tuesday.
Foxx, speaking at the Texas Transportation Forum, an annual conference put on by the Texas Department of Transportation, said the Federal Railroad Administration, TxDOT and Texas Central High-Speed Railway will move forward this year on environmental impact studies related to the project. The completion of such a study is typically a key early step in developing a major transportation project.
“I can’t speak to whether there will be roadblocks or anything down the road, but what I can tell you is I’m delighted to be part of helping get this first step underway,” Foxx said in an interview after his speech. “It’s a big deal for Texas, and we’ll see what happens going forward.”
In 2012, Texas Central High-Speed Railway announced plans to develop a high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas entirely with private funding. Company officials said the project, which could reduce travel time between the two cities to less than 90 minutes, would use bullet train technology from a Japanese firm that already operates a profitable bullet train line in Japan. The firm is expected to release details of the proposed route for a Dallas-to-Houston line later this year. Company officials have expressed hope that the line could be up and running as soon as 2021.
More at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/01/08/federal-studies-announced-texas-high-speed-rail/ .
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