“This story is being reprinted in Texas Metro News as part of a partnership with The Dallas Morning News.”
The proposed high-speed rail would run from Dallas to Houston in 90 minutes, with a stop in the Brazos Valley, between College Station and Huntsville.
By Dana Branham
Dallas Morning News Writer
Updated at 3:50 pm: Revised to include additional comment from Texas Central Railroad.
Plans for a bullet train from Dallas to Houston have cleared two federal regulatory hurdles, allowing Texas Central Railroad to move closer to construction, the company announced Monday.
Texas Central said the Federal Railroad Administration has finalized two key regulatory processes for the project: one establishing safety requirements and another completing an environmental review process.
The company said in a news release that it’s ready to build and “will proceed to construction as soon as possible.” But an attorney who represents the Texans Against High-Speed Rail group said Texas Central is “nowhere near” beginning construction.
The Federal Railroad Administration confirmed Texas Central’s announcement Monday afternoon.
The company said the final documents would be published soon in the Federal Register. A pre-publication version — 327 pages long — was posted on the Federal Railroad Administration’s website earlier this month.
Carlos Aguilar, CEO of Texas Central Railroad, said the announcement is the culmination of years of work and marks “a very thorough and careful federal regulatory process that will make the Texas Central Railroad the first high-speed rail system to be implemented in the United States.”
“This is the moment we have been working towards,” Aguilar said in a written statement.
The proposed high-speed rail would run from Dallas to Houston in 90 minutes, with a stop in the Brazos Valley, between College Station and Huntsville.
Plans for the high-speed rail have faced opposition for years, with opponents arguing that the private company would abuse eminent domain to develop the route.
