Amtrak has cooperated with Texas Central on various initiatives since 2016 and the two entities are currently evaluating a potential partnership to further study and potentially advance the project.
“If we are going to add more high-speed rail to this country, the Dallas to Houston Corridor is a compelling proposition and offers great potential,” said Amtrak senior vice president of high-speed rail development programs, Andy Byford.
“We believe many of the country’s biggest and fastest-growing metropolitan areas, like Houston and Dallas, deserve more high quality high-speed, intercity rail service and we are proud to bring our experience to evaluate this potential project and explore opportunities with Texas Central so the state can meet its full transportation needs,” Byford added.
The proposed approximately 240-mile route would offer a total travel time of less than 90 minutes between two of the top five major US metropolitan areas and would complement future, new and improved corridor, and long-distance service in the southern region.
Texas Central and Amtrak have submitted applications to several federal programs in connection with further study and design work for the potential Dallas to Houston segment, including the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety and Improvements (CRISI) grant program, the Corridor Identification and Development program, and the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (FSP-National) grant program.
Amtrak has worked with Texas Central since 2016 when it entered into agreements to provide through-ticketing using the Amtrak reservation system and other support services for the planned high-speed rail line.
“This high-speed train, using advanced, proven Shinkansen technology, has the opportunity to revolutionize rail travel in the southern US, and we believe Amtrak could be the perfect partner to help us achieve that,” said Texas Central chief executive officer Michael Bui.
High-speed rail service with mostly-dedicated and purpose-built rights of way can radically shrink trip times, achieve excellent reliability, and provide significant capacity – all things that will drive ridership and help convince people to shift their trips to rail.
When complete, this project is forecast to provide significant social, environmental, employment and economic benefits to the people of Texas. As an example, the project is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 100,000 tons per year, saving 65 million gallons of fuel while removing 12,500 cars per day from I-45.