I remember first hearing about it 5 or 6 years ago. A high-speed rail line to connect two of Texas's biggest cities, Dallas and Houston. I never really bought into the idea though because I saw what was going on with the idea of high-speed rail in California and the huge sky-high cost that the state and federal government were willing to take on. However, just when you were about to forget about the project it would make news for one reason or another and constantly remained in the back of people's minds.

For those of you who know about Texas, the government would never sink tens of billions of dollars into a public transportation project between a couple of cities like California is prepared to do. The Texas project though takes a completely different angle than California's project does. The project is being 100% financed by a private company called Texas Central Railway and is not taking any money from either the state or federal government. This allows the project to not have to worry about funding getting canceled like what has happened with the California project that before its recent cutbacks was going to cost over $70 billion to build alone and not be ready until 2031. The Texas project is also expected to only cost $16 billion to build and will lead to 10,000 jobs being created during construction and 1,500 jobs once construction is completed. 

Texas Central Railway so far has been able to win consistently in court and gain federal permits to continue to chug on ahead. Today the Department of Transportation announced the final set of regulations for bullet trains in the United States to keep passengers, operators, and the environment safe which has not even been accomplished by the California line that has begun construction. With this announcement, Texas Central Railway is now ready to begin construction and has stated they hope to help contribute to the COVID-19 economic recovery. It is believed it will take 5-6 years to build out the entire line and its stops in Houston, the Brazos Valley (where Texas A&M and Sam Houston State is located), and Dallas. From what I have been able to find it appears they have almost all the parcels of land that they will need and they have the environmental clearance to proceed. 

This rail line has the promise to be the first bullet train in the United States. The train will travel at an average speed of 186-205 mph (299-330 kmph) along its track that will be 240 miles long. This trip from Dallas to Houston would only take 90 minutes and is extremely environmentally friendly as it will cut back on people flying or driving between just these two cities. The train, for example, expends only 1/8 of the emissions of a commercial airline and during "peak hours" one train will depart each station every 30 minutes allowing for a ton of people to utilize it. The train will also be elevated for the most part and does not have to be earthquake proof like it has to be in California. 

I would assume that construction will not start or at least really start moving until 2021 due to the pandemic. I personally cannot wait to see how this project continues to come along as they have already signed contracts with most of the companies they need to build, acquire and operate the trains! To me personally, this is an ideal example of the government and private companies working together to help each other out. Texas has constantly backed this project and helped it when it could without spending tax payer money to fund it and the company is going to help alleviate some of the travel issues between the two major cities and economies for that fact. Hopefully, if this works well this will inspire more railways to be built with this formula so that they are quickly and efficiently done and maybe one day we will finally get a regional or national network of railways to help move us towards a cleaner future. 

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