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The company is working with the [[Federal Railroad Administration | Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)]] and [[Texas Department of Transportation|TxDOT]] to develop the [[Environmental Impact Statement]] required by [[National Environmental Policy Act|NEPA]].<ref>{{cite web |last=TexDOT |url=http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/statewide/dallas-houston-high-speed-rail.html|website=Texas Department of Transport |title=Dallas-Houston High-Speed Rail Project}}</ref>
The company is working with the [[Federal Railroad Administration | Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)]] and [[Texas Department of Transportation|TxDOT]] to develop the [[Environmental Impact Statement]] required by [[National Environmental Policy Act|NEPA]].<ref>{{cite web |last=TexDOT |url=http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/statewide/dallas-houston-high-speed-rail.html|website=Texas Department of Transport |title=Dallas-Houston High-Speed Rail Project}}</ref>


The [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] is Tim Keith, and he is responsible for the company's finance, development, construction and eventual operations.<ref>{{cite web|last=RT&S | title=Texas high-speed rail project names new CEO; gets $75 million boost| url=http://www.rtands.com/index.php/passenger/intercity/texas-high-speed-rail-project-names-new-ceo-gets-75-million-boost.html?channel=|publisher=Simmons-Boardman Publishing Inc.|website=Railway Track & Structures Magazine (RT&S)|date=July 23, 2015|place=New York, USA}}</ref>
[[Chief executive officer|CEO]] Tim Keith is responsible for the company's finance, development, construction and eventual operations.<ref>{{cite web|last=RT&S | title=Texas high-speed rail project names new CEO; gets $75 million boost| url=http://www.rtands.com/index.php/passenger/intercity/texas-high-speed-rail-project-names-new-ceo-gets-75-million-boost.html?channel=|publisher=Simmons-Boardman Publishing Inc.|website=Railway Track & Structures Magazine (RT&S)|date=July 23, 2015|place=New York, USA}}</ref>


In July 2015 the company announced that they had secured $75 million of private funding to allow the project to move forward from feasibility studies to development planning.<ref>{{cite web|first=Dylan|last=Baddour|title=Texas high speed rail passes major milestone with first fundraising announcement|url=http://www.chron.com/news/transportation/article/Texas-high-speed-rail-passes-major-milestone-with-6400089.php|website=Houston Chronicle|date=July 23, 2015|publisher=[[Hearst Newspapers, LLC]]}}</ref>
In July 2015 the company announced that they had secured $75 million of private funding to allow the project to move forward from feasibility studies to development planning.<ref>{{cite web|first=Dylan|last=Baddour|title=Texas high speed rail passes major milestone with first fundraising announcement|url=http://www.chron.com/news/transportation/article/Texas-high-speed-rail-passes-major-milestone-with-6400089.php|website=Houston Chronicle|date=July 23, 2015|publisher=[[Hearst Newspapers, LLC]]}}</ref>

Revision as of 08:15, 8 May 2019

This article is about the high-speed rail project. For heritage railway, see Texas State Railroad.
Texas Central
Overview
StatusPlanned
OwnerTexas Central Partners, LLC
LocaleTexas
Termini
Stations3
Websitehttps://www.texascentral.com/
Service
TypeHigh-speed rail
Services1
Rolling stockN700I Series Shinkansen
History
Planned opening2025[1]
Technical
Number of tracks2
Characterfully grade separated
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed177 mph (285 km/h)[2]
Route map

Legend
 Dallas
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Brazos Valley
Houston

Texas Central or Texas Central Partners, LLC[3] is a private company that is proposing a high-speed rail line between Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. It plans to use technology based on that used by the Central Japan Railway Company.[4] The company has indicated that the journey time would be less than 90 minutes.[5][6] This would make it the second high-speed rail service in North America after the Northeast Corridor's Acela Express, and the first dedicated high-speed line.

Route

On August 10, 2015 the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration issued a report that supported the so-called utility corridor for the line.[7]

Entering the Houston area, the train line would run parallel to U.S. 290, Hempstead Highway and a freight rail line, before entering near downtown Houston.

In addition to stations at each end of the line, a station is also planned for unincorporated Grimes County, Texas, in order to serve nearby Texas A&M University (the state's largest). However, Grimes County has opposed the project.

In January 2018, plans for the station in Dallas were released. It will be located on the west side of The Cedars with pedestrian walkways connecting to Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the preferred location identified by the Federal Railroad Administration in their Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Rolling stock

The line is expected to use a variation of the N700 Series Shinkansen that is modified for export.[8] Trains will consist of eight cars, whereas Japanese Shinkansen are double that length.[9]

Construction plans and contractors

In January 2017, President Trump's administration listed the project as a national infrastructure priority.[10]

In June 2017, it was stated that construction would begin in 2018 and would support 10,000 jobs during each year of the construction process and 1,000 jobs in each year after that.[11] Also in June 2017, the company announced that it had reached agreement with Fluor Corporation to advance the preliminary development of the project. Fluor will support the project during the preliminary development by refining the project’s engineering, design-build cost estimate, schedule and construction planning, and potentially further phases of development. Fluor and its partners would be the preferred design-builder of the project.[12]On Sep 13 2018, the company earned a $300 million loan for permitting, design and engineering.[13] The company selected Salini Impregilo to lead the civil construction consortium that will build the Texas passenger line, to the top of the rails, including viaducts, embankments and drainage. Construction is now slated to begin in 2019 and end in 2024.[14][15][16]

As of November 10, 2018 the Federal permitting dashboard shows that the date for the Record of Decision is March 27, 2020.[17] Since construction cannot start until the completion of the NEPA process, it would appear that earliest work could start would be late 2019 or early 2020 and would take up to 6 years.[18][19] the company currently has 30% of needed land aquisitions needed for construction.[20]

In a December 2016 summary judgement, a Harris County court ruled that the Texas Central Railroad does not have the power to require private landowners to allow their land to be surveyed for possible future eminent domain purchases. The case, Texas central Railroad and Infrastructure vs Calvin House, was prosecuted by the railroad against a landowner that refused to allow survey crews onto his land.[21]

In 2017, Grimes County won an injunction against Texas Central Railroad that prevents the company from performing any surveys that damage or alter any county roads or right-of-ways.[22]

In February 2019, a Leon County district judge ruled that Texas Central is not a railroad company and therefore does not have the right to conduct surveys on private land.[23]

Company details

The company is working with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and TxDOT to develop the Environmental Impact Statement required by NEPA.[24]

CEO Tim Keith is responsible for the company's finance, development, construction and eventual operations.[25]

In July 2015 the company announced that they had secured $75 million of private funding to allow the project to move forward from feasibility studies to development planning.[26]

In December 2015 the company announced that it had appointed three new executives to help develop the project, all of whom will report to Tim Keith. Three appointments are as follows:[27]

  • Managing Director, External Affairs – Holly Reed. She was previously Regional vice president of external affairs for AT&T.
  • Chief Finance Officer (CFO) – Lori Willox. She is a certified public accountant, and was previously a Senior vice president and CFO for Balfour Beatty’s Central region.[28]
  • Managing Director, Design-Build Program – Doug Jones. He has been in the construction industry for 38 years and was previously with Balfour Beatty Construction in Dallas.

See also

References

  1. ^ Lueckemeyer, Olivia (16 January 2019). "High-speed bullet train between Dallas and Houston could be operational by 2025, company representative says". Community Impact. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  2. ^ Osborne, Ryan (21 November 2018). "10 things to know about the Japanese bullet train, coming soon to Texas". WFAA. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  3. ^ Texas Central. "Texas Central Partners, LLC".
  4. ^ Batheja, Aman; Smith, Stephen J. (August 18, 2014). "The Bullet Train That Could Change Everything". The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune.
  5. ^ Texas Central. "Learn the Facts". Texas Central Railway.
  6. ^ Begley, Dug (May 10, 2016). "Houston really wants the proposed bullet train to make a stop downtown". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  7. ^ Green, Stephen (August 28, 2015). "Utility corridor gets nod for high-speed rail". The Courier of Montgomery County. Your Houston News.
  8. ^ Whitely, Jason (26 November 2018). "The Texas bullet train now looks likely. Here's what to expect". WFAA. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  9. ^ de Luna, Marcy (28 November 2018). "Things to know about Houston-Dallas high-speed bullet train beginning construction in 2019". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  10. ^ Global Construction Review (January 30, 2017). "Trump makes $137bn list of "emergency" infrastructure schemes, all needing private finance". Global Construction Review.
  11. ^ Quirke, Joe (June 16, 2017). "Texas to begin work on Dallas–Houston bullet train next year". Global Construction Review.
  12. ^ Chirls, Chris (August 14, 2017). "Texas Central, Fluor reach HSR agreement". Railway Age.
  13. ^ "Texas Central lands $300 million loan for Dallas-to-Houston bullet train project". 13 September 2018. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 38 (help)
  14. ^ "Texas central selects Renfe as operating partner". www.rtands.com.
  15. ^ "High speed rail moves ahead: Texas Central proceeds with addition of Italian engineering, construction group". Corsicana Daily Sun. October 9, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  16. ^ https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2018/10/30/texas-bullet-train-top-infrastructure-projects.html
  17. ^ "FRA Permitting Dashboard".
  18. ^ "CEO: Carlos Aguilar, Texas Central". KERA. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  19. ^ https://www.roadsbridges.com/texas-high-speed-rail-project-could-begin-later-year
  20. ^ https://communityimpact.com/houston/spring-klein/top-stories/2019/03/11/texas-central-to-ramp-up-land-acquisitions-along-train-route
  21. ^ "Texas high-speed rail plan suffers eminent-domain setback in court". star-telegram.
  22. ^ "Texans Against High-Speed Rail". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  23. ^ Falls, Clay. "Leon County residents celebrate judge's ruling on proposed bullet train". www.kbtx.com. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  24. ^ TexDOT. "Dallas-Houston High-Speed Rail Project". Texas Department of Transport.
  25. ^ RT&S (July 23, 2015). "Texas high-speed rail project names new CEO; gets $75 million boost". Railway Track & Structures Magazine (RT&S). New York, USA: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Inc.
  26. ^ Baddour, Dylan (July 23, 2015). "Texas high speed rail passes major milestone with first fundraising announcement". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, LLC.
  27. ^ Murray, Lance (December 3, 2015). "Texas Central Partners names new execs at high-speed rail developer". Houston Business Journal (www.bizjournals.com/houston). American City Business Journals.
  28. ^ Bloomberg. "Executive Profile - Lori Willox". Bloomberg.
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