Texas’ Long-Awaited Bullet Train Plans to Start Construction

Thought this table was interesting, and since Texas has to be the biggest and best, we gotta top China:

 

lol. Good luck. There’s a reason we’re relying on Japan’s Shinkansen, and I’m sure we’re not going to ask China for one of their trains anytime soon.

 

On the bottom of the graph, Japan is going to start production on one that goes 314mph, maybe they throw us a bone and help the US with one that tops out at 280-290mph.

 

You're liquid if the train wrecks at these speeds so why not be the fastest?

 

Japan's already tested one that goes close to 400 mph that I don't think they're using and it was around 5 years ago they hit that speed. I'm guessing it's more than just plopping the latest and greatest train onto some existing track (?) ... not sure.

Besides, I think this bullet train project has been laying people off thanks to COVID.

 

314mph? that sounds fun wow

 

314 is lame. Make it 316 and name it Stone Cold Express.

 

That was a one off twin turbo -- closed course professional driver.

 

Houston-to-Dallas bullet train given green light from feds, company says
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/ne...let-train-federal-approval-texas-15582761.php

Federal officials have issued final approvals to backers of a Houston-to-Dallas high-speed rail line, clearing the way for construction of the proposed line, in a move almost certain to face challenges from opponents.

Texas Central Railroad, the company planning to operate trains from Houston to Dallas with a stop near College Station, said early Monday that the Federal Railroad Administration had issued both the Record of Decision that ends the environmental analysis and the Rule of Particular Applicability that governs the safety standards the Japanese-developed trains must use.

“This is the moment we have been working towards,” said Carlos Aguilar, CEO of Texas Central Railroad.

Railroad administration officials did not confirm the approvals, with the company saying the details and specifics of the rules will be released soon.

Company officials — who less than a decade ago expected construction to cost $10 billion, now say building it will cost “around $20 billion,” with construction possibly starting in the first half of next year.

Skeptics said that simply will not and should not happen, criticizing the company and regulators for overlooking obvious flaws with the plan.

“This project has been flawed from the beginning and the FRA has ignored calls from concerned property owners, safety professionals, and even other rail companies,” said Taylor Ward, spokesperson for ReRoute the Route, formed to oppose the project.

With the two approvals in hand, Texas Central can begin final designs and construction of the project. A consortium of companies, including Italian construction giant Salini Impregilo, Central Japan Railway — builder of the Shinkansen bullet trains that will be the basis for the Texas trains — and Spanish rail operator Renfe, are all hired to handle various parts of the building and operations of the system.

Though development involves global companies, Texas Central and supporters, including elected officials in Houston and Dallas, note the company is based in Texas and the companies will hire thousands of locals to build and operate it. Some, such as Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, said new travel modes will define how the metro areas grow and cooperate.

“The construction of high-speed rail will have a generational impact, creating thousands of jobs right here in Houston and injecting billions of dollars into our local businesses,” Turner said.

At speeds of more than 200 mph, officials said the trip between Houston and Dallas will take 90 minutes, with trains traveling along a sealed corridor following mostly a utility right of way through rural Texas. The Houston stop is planned for the current site of Northwest Mall, near U.S. 290 and Loop 610.

“Texas Central is ready to build and will proceed to construction as soon as possible to contribute to the nation’s COVID-19 recovery,” the company said in a statement.

That likely is easier said than done, however, given the intense opposition by rural residents and local, state and federal officials who for years have doubted the company’s claims.

“They hoped to break ground many many years ago,” U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, told a crowd of train opponents on Feb. 19. “They are still saying they will break ground this year. No they will not.”

Many critics previously said they expect multiple lawsuits to halt construction, if necessary. Opponents argue the project will ruin the character of many rural communities and properties, and likely never lure the riders the company contends.

“They have also heard that Texas Central’s plan completely disregards flood catastrophes like the area has seen in very recent years,” Ward said.

Should it fail, Brady and others said, taxpayers will be asked to bail it out, which is why they urged Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to shelve any federal work on it last April, citing the pandemic. Cries to keep taxpayer money away from the project have intensified as talk of COVID-related infrastructure stimulus continues and some speculate the company could try to tap those funds.

“We are hopeful Texas lawmakers — state and federal — will urge President Trump that not a single federal taxpayer dollar is spent on this insolvent and fatally flawed project,” Ward said.

Texas Central has said since 2016 it is privately-funded — much of the investment coming from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation which aims to export Japanese technology. Company officials, however, have said they may look at federal loan programs to finance some of the project.

Expected to cost at least $19 billion based on the federal assessment, critics have said they believe the project potentially will cost double that, making it unlikely it ever gets built, especially as the economy surrounding the pandemic looks uncertain.

“Since their conception, Texas Central has lied to its investors and Texans about this project,” State Rep. Ben Leman, R-Brenham, said last week, lashing out at the company’s use of a Cayman Islands business entity to hold deeds for land purchased for the project in Texas.

 

I would love for there to be more of a train culture in the US, but this plan just doesn't make sense to me for the following reasons:

1) cost/benefit for the riders - it's incredibly flat between Houston and Dallas so that limit benefit of trains. You can cut a 4 hour trip to 90 minutes, but you have to add on to the overhead time of using public transit to get to and leaving the station. In Japan, a train ride can often cut a 8 hour car ride to a 90 min train ride because the trains go through tunnels while the cars have to climb mountains.

Most people in Houston and DFW own their own personal vehicles so if the train will most likely cost significantly more than gas/wear and tear on the car, especially if there are more than 1 person in the vehicle.

2) lack of robust public transit once you get to your destination. Urban sprawl is ridiculous in both DFW and Houston. So if your destination is one of the suburbs, you will most likely still need a car to get around.

3) Covid19 and Zoom. I think a lot of businesses are figuring out that they don't need to meet face to face any more. Meeting over the internet is an acceptable substitute for many.

This plan will fail even more than the doomed California high speed rail between SF and LA.

 

30 yrs, neither the US nor China has any high speed bullet trains (MagLevv)

today,

• china has 59 pairs of MagLev high-speed train operating on a daily basis.
• US is still talking about MagLev

 

Reducing a trip down from 4.5 to 1.5 hours is pretty significant. Tons of people that currently fly between the two cities that would shift towards taking the train, that's been proven all over the world countless times.

Why do people need to use public transit? Will there not be parking and rental car facilities at/near each station? Uber/Lyft?

This is actually a legit reason why this may not be built or at least delayed. But I doubt people will all of the sudden not have to travel between the two cities once COVID is over.

If it fails, it will be before it is completed. Just like the CA HSR project, if it's ever finished it will be very heavily utilized.

 

Texas would be so OP with a bullet train connecting Dallas - Houston - San Antonio - Austin - El Paso - Lubbock - San Marcos - Fredericksburg - Laredo - Corpus - South Padre

Imagine getting up early on a Saturday or after work Friday and getting to Big Bend in 4 hrs and spend the weekend there.

Or being in Dallas and getting to Corpus in 4.

 

I was just recently thinking about this last night if there was ever an update.

 

I was unclear. I am including rental car and uber/taxi as public transit. It still takes time to get in and get around using other transportation means. Especially if the high speed rail station is in the suburbs of each city.

I am not convinced there is enough business traffic to make the math work.

Today there are 25 flights from Houston (all airports) to Dallas (all airports) from Southwest, United, and AA. This includes both people getting off the plane and those who are just transiting. Let's assume there are also 25 flights from Dallas to Houston and each flight carries 150 passengers. That's 7500 passengers trips per day. Assume train tickets will cost $150 each way and that'll be $1.1M per day.

At $20B to build, it'll take 50 years to even produce $20B worth of revenue. I can't imagine how long it would take to recoup the investment if you include operating cost.

Of course, that does not include any possible boost to the local economy on both sides but that's difficult to quantify.

 

Keep in mind all the people that currently drive between the cities that might choose a train if it was both faster and more convenient. Or the number of people that might choose to travel if it was faster and more convenient.

But beyond that, a single route is almost certainly a money loser - just like an airline flying only one route would be too. But over time, you'd expand out beyond the one route and the new costs would be a lot lower.

 

I like this idea. GRANTED, it's to Dallas.. but still nice.

 

I don't think it's perfect. But I think it's a good first step in the right direction.

In time perhaps a network of high speed rail across Texas will make it easier, faster, and cheaper for us to get around.

It's big state. It ain't Rhode Island.

 

Yeah, I'm all for bullet trains even though most people in this country probably don't care if there is one or not -- it's probably a novelty -- but at a $20+ billion price tag (and that's doubled since the original estimate, I think) and departures every 30 minutes on 2 tracks (and every hour during off-peak hours), combined with something like $500 million - $600 million in operating expenses annually, yikes. That's going to take a while to recoup costs even if you add Austin to the mix because you'd still have to pay billions for that line, probably.