For nearly six years, Texas Central pushed for the construction of a Dallas-to-Houston bullet train to connect the two populous cities.
The proposed high-speed rail would cost $30 billion to build and would shuttle passengers between Dallas and Houston in just 90 minutes.
Plans for the bullet train hit a snag last year when former Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar suddenly resigned, though.
Aguilar, who was the project leader, stepped down shortly before a major Texas Supreme Court ruling on the train.
When Aguilar resigned, it was as though the hope for the bullet train walked out with him.
Despite Aguilar’s resignation, though, the Texas Supreme Court granted the train developers eminent domain.
In a 5-3 vote, justices ruled that Texas Central does have the power of an eminent domain, which gives the company the legal right to force landowners to sell their property to them.
In other words, Texas Central can now begin acquiring land to build the rail upon.
We are appreciative to the Texas Supreme Court for their time and consideration of this important issue as we continue work on this innovative high-speed passenger train rail,” Texas Central said in a statement following the ruling.
The court ruling was a massive development for Texas Central. Given approval to acquire land to build, the project appears to have life.
For the first time, the gears are in motion to build a Dallas-to-Houston bullet train.
Constructing it won’t be cheap, but its $30 billion dollar price tag is well worth it to the developers, who believe it can be an economic boon for Texas.
The proposed bullet train between Dallas and Houston could pump more than $36 billion into the state economy over the next 25 years, including more than $2.5 billion in local and state taxes, according to a study commissioned by the private firm developing the project.
Still, even with its money-making potential, there are still a few obstacles in the way of Texas Central finalizing the train.
Among those obstacles are those that live along the plotted railroad. Many Texas communities have already expressed concerns about the noise and traffic that the train would bring.
As we know, money talks, so perhaps Texas Central will make residents much more convincing offers now that it has been granted eminent domain.
Should the train be made, it would be huge for Texas. Connecting the two major cities would create a lot of jobs and help bolster a Texas economy that is on the rise.
It would also make the trip between Dallas and Houston much lighter. Nearly 100,000 Texans, sometimes called “super-commuters,” travel back and forth between Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth more than once a week.
Additionally, thousands of college students travel between the two cities each year.
The approximately 240-mile high-speed rail line would offer travelers a much faster alternative- condensing the journey to just 90 minutes. This would include departures every 30 minutes during peak periods each day, and every hour during off-peak periods, according to the Texas Central.
For more information on Texas Central and the proposed bullet train, please visit the official website here.
Source: newsbreak
