The bullet train between Dallas and Houston isn’t dead yet. Amtrak and Texas Central Partners, the organization that’s responsible for building the train, announced in a joint press release Wednesday that the two are “evaluating a potential partnership to further study and potentially advance the project.”
The idea to bridge the two cities by way of a 205-mph, 90-minute train ride has been in the works for more than a decade. The line would include a stop south of downtown Dallas, near the Kay Bailey Hutchison Dallas Convention Center, and in Houston at the defunct Northwest Mall. It appears the two entities are moving forward with the previously planned alignment.
Texas Central achieved a major victory last summer, when the Texas Supreme Court gave the entity permission to seize land along the rail line through eminent domain if property owners didn’t want to sell. At the time, the company claimed to have “acquired or optioned” about 40 percent of the land that would be necessary, but some large property owners were holding out.
In June 2022, the CEO quit, saying he “could not align our current stakeholders on a common vision or a path forward.” The board was disbanded, and a company known for reorganizing companies through bankruptcy or other crises took charge.
Texas Central has estimated the project to cost upwards of $30 billion. The Texas Tribune reported that the company’s former CEO filed written testimony to Congress in 2021 detailing how Texas Central had secured $700 million in private investment and “achieved all major permitting and engineering milestones” necessary prior to construction. An attorney for the company announced that it had raised $400 million during a court hearing, according to the trade publication the Engineering News-Record. But it hasn’t pulled construction permits, which had critics in county offices questioning the money in its coffers.
Texas Central has settled its property tax debts with all of the counties along the route, according to a report last year from KBTX in Bryan.
Now in walks Amtrak. Maybe. The company says it is evaluating the partnership. Amtrak received $22 billion of Congress’ allocation of $66 billion for rail projects in the 2021 infrastructure bill. Its pool of direct funding is to be used for “fleet acquisitions and improvement projects.” It’s also pursuing several competitive grants for critical rail infrastructure improvements across the country.
The announcement notes that Texas Central and Amtrak submitted applications to “several federal programs” to pay for further studies and design work. Amtrak had already agreed to operate ticketing and reservation services for the high-speed rail.
“A potential partnership and the form it would take is under evaluation, including the roles of the respective partners in the operation of the project. It would be premature to speculate further as decisions on next steps will be made in the coming year,” read a statement from Amtrak. “We’ve requested funding to complete necessary project development activities, but do not plan to further discuss these grant applications while award decisions are still pending.”
The press release includes canned responses from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson (“It is bold, innovative endeavors like this that will propel Dallas toward an even more prosperous future”) and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (“The collaboration between Texas Central and Amtrak is an important milestone for the City of Houston and this project”). Texas Central CEO Michael Bui says, “We appreciate Amtrak’s continued collaboration and look forward to continuing toe explore how we can partner in the development of this important project.”
That’s all we know for now. Texas Central sold a project that would be privately funded. It looks like that dream is dead.
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