State lawmakers who oppose high-speed rail are trying to use a budget rider to stop the Texas Department of Transportation from assisting a private company that wants to build a high-speed rail line from Houston to Dallas. The Senate Finance Committee approved the budget rider 14-1 Wednesday, with Sen. Royce West of Dallas opposed. It will next be heard on the Senate floor as part of debates related to the full budget. Sen. Charles Schwertner has joined a group of rural lawma

AUSTIN, TX - A group of key state lawmakers recently filed a slate of legislation to push back against Texas Central Railway’s controversial proposal to construct a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston. Senators Birdwell (R-Granbury), Creighton (R-Conroe), Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), Perry (R-Lubbock), and Schwertner (R-Georgetown) joined with Representatives Ashby (R-Lufkin), Bell (R-Magnolia), Cook (R-Corsicana), Schubert (R-Caldwell), and Wray (R-Waxahachie) to file

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