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With private funding and no public incentives, how can we oppose the Texas bullet train?

As a transit option, a Texas bullet train would be a major breakthrough. As an economic development project, it would be off the charts. That's because taxpayers don’t have to cough up anything to make it happen. That’s almost unheard of — not only for giant investments but even for small ones. A high-speed rail system between Dallas and Houston would cost an estimated $12 billion, and the economic impact would be widespread and lasting. Yet the developers, Texas Central Part

Texas' rural roots and urban future are on a high-speed collision course

Texas' rural roots and urban future are on a high-speed collision course

GRIMES COUNTY — John Stoneham’s knees don’t work like they used to, and it’s gotten tougher to count the cows roaming his 1,000 acres of land in southeast Texas. Sometimes newborn calves disappear into the tall brush and the 77-year-old can’t find them for days. Three mornings a week, though, Stoneham still tosses 50-pound feed bags onto the bed of a mud-caked pickup like they weigh half that. Then he steers the truck around soggy patches on the Grimes County farm his family

Bill package shapes fight on high-speed rail

Bill package shapes fight on high-speed rail

Legislative opponents of a proposed high-speed rail line to zip passengers between Dallas and Houston have filed a package of bills aimed at killing the project. State Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, is a member of the group. Texas Central Partners wants to build the bullet train line using Japanese technology and counting on private investors to pay the $12 billion cost. “This group of foreign investors is threatening to seize family farms, physically divide the state of Te

Developers say recent Texas high-speed rail study lacks proper data

The developers behind the plan to connect Dallas and Houston via high-speed rail fired back Friday against conclusions in a study that warned the project may run massive deficits. Texas Central Partners plans to construct a 240-mile Houston-to-Dallas rail line funded by private investors. The company has repeatedly said that it won’t seek public funding, but the Reason Foundation said in a report this month that the train line could cost taxpayers $21.5 billion and could run

Trump could put high-speed rail back on track in U.S.

WASHINGTON — Could Donald Trump be the president who brings high-speed rail to America? The Obama administration spent nearly $10 billion to improve passenger rail service across the country. While it accomplished that goal to some degree, it did not build the faster trains passengers can ride in Europe, Japan and China. Trains in other countries can travel 200 mph or more, but no train in the United States as yet travels faster than 150 mph. Most go much more slowly than tha

Texas Central reaches 'milestone' on land options for high-speed rail

Texas Central reaches 'milestone' on land options for high-speed rail

Texas Central announced yesterday that it has reached land option agreements on 30 percent of the parcels needed for its plan to build a high-speed train route between Dallas and Houston. Negotiations have resulted in option agreements in all 10 counties through which the train would travel — a milestone for the company's land option program, Texas Central officials said in a press release. The option agreements included 50 percent of the parcels for the proposed route in

High-speed rail developer drops lawsuits against landowners

Texas Central Partners officials said they are instead going to try and have an “open dialogue” with landowners about letting the company onto their land. “We’re stepping back and going back to conversations and taking some of the heat out of our process,” said Texas Central President Tim Keith. Texas Central Partners is developing a 240-mile bullet train line intended to transport passengers between Houston and Dallas in 90 minutes with a stop near Bryan. The company has par