Report: 14 billion dollar deal for Bullet train from Houston to Dallas is done

[elfenix 34,221]

Not dead yet:

"Amtrak and Texas Central, the lead entity on building a high-speed rail network between Houston and Dallas, announced Wednesday that they are looking into a new collaboration."


https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2023/08/09/houston-dallas-bullet-train-high-speed-rail

[Ghost of LL 15,531]

On 1/16/2023 at 3:23 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

This is the most recent (October) article that I can find with new info about Texas Central Rail: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/27/texas-high-speed-rail-dallas-houston/

The lawyer fighting them seems to want to prove that they're not a going concern.  While the rail company says they're moving forward, they're also not actively buying properties as they had planned.

At some point, we need someone in the US to build a dedicated high speed line to determine the long term feasibility. Texas Central looked promising. They have purchased land and worked through the court cases and federal regulations. But then they halted. Not to get political but having a Dem President would seem to be a positive element for them. 

You haven't been paying attention to Florida.  Brightline is operating out of Miami to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm.  And next month it opens its high-speed section to Orlando.  I think they're planning on extending the line to Tampa in a few years.

[Updawg 2,266]

You haven't been paying attention to Florida.  Brightline is operating out of Miami to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm.  And next month it opens its high-speed section to Orlando.  I think they're planning on extending the line to Tampa in a few years.

Used it about a month ago. It’s great

[elfenix 34,221]

 

 

[Dahobbs 17,521]

On a train from Brussels to Hamburg right now. Would be really nice to have something similar for the major Texas cities. 

[Bevo&Pevo 5,120]

China says "Hit" at 387 mph.  Dreaming of speeds over 1200 mph.

Record-smashing Chinese maglev hyperloop train hits 387 mph and could someday outpace a plane | Live Science

 

[Neonmoon 38,129]

On 3/11/2024 at 11:22 AM, Dahobbs said:

On a train from Brussels to Hamburg right now. Would be really nice to have something similar for the major Texas cities. 

Seriously. US is a third world country in mass transit 

[elfenix 34,221]

Quote

“It’s just the natural process of really big, important projects — getting everyone on the same page as we move forward,” Morris told the Fort Worth Report. “This is our generation’s DFW Airport.”

 

https://fortworthreport.org/2024/03/16/fort-worth-to-houston-high-speed-rail-on-track-despite-dallas-concerns/

[Guest]

On 3/16/2024 at 7:01 AM, Bevo&Pevo said:

China says "Hit" at 387 mph.  Dreaming of speeds over 1200 mph.

Record-smashing Chinese maglev hyperloop train hits 387 mph and could someday outpace a plane | Live Science

 

Speaking of smashing, how do they keep the deer and pigs off the tracks?

Edited March 18 by slorch

[Trey3216 15,343]

4 hours ago, Guest said:

Speaking of smashing, how do they keep the deer and pigs off the tracks?

Q figured that shit out for 007 decades ago...

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20,389]

15 hours ago, Guest said:

Speaking of smashing, how do they keep the deer and pigs off the tracks?

Moats. With alligators. 

[Your Mom 4,805]

20 hours ago, Guest said:

Speaking of smashing, how do they keep the deer and pigs off the tracks?

They use high speed trains to knock them off the tracks. Works great on deer, pigs, hippies, etc…

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,506]

Such a no-brainer to build this between Dallas and Houston, with future plans to expand to FW, Austin and SA. It effectively would bring these cities closer together in terms of time.

And while individual needs might still lead some to prefer to drive or fly, it will reduce the traffic with those options. It's a win for the vast majority of Texans.

[Frank Drebin 5,654]

6 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Such a no-brainer to build this between Dallas and Houston, with future plans to expand to FW, Austin and SA. It effectively would bring these cities closer together in terms of time.

And while individual needs might still lead some to prefer to drive or fly, it will reduce the traffic with those options. It's a win for the vast majority of Texans.

I think it will increase traffic congestion in cities.  Unless the rail is somehow going to be elevated.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,506]

26 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

I think it will increase traffic congestion in cities.  Unless the rail is somehow going to be elevated.

The original plan was that all road crossing would be elevated. You can’t have vehicles crossing high speed rail lines. 

[52-80 19,140]

$14B seems like a good deal in retrospect, when California is asking over $100B for theirs (lmao). 12 fucking figures

[parkavenueguy 13]

 

food for thought. we used to build like crazy in this country. look at China and how quickly they've developed their infrastructure. i truly hope in my lifetime we see Texas connected with super highspeed rail. imagine being able to connect from Houston to Dallas in under 3 hours - the economic gains would be monumental. 

i don't get the arguments that texas is too big, or we can't do this or that - it sounds so defeatist. it doesnt matter how large Texas or the U.S. is, we can still build, and these corridors that are too long to drive but too short to fly make it perfect for trains. the argument of profitability is nonsense - airliners are the worst industries in the world, they're all unprofitable, they're basically government-owned entities at this point but they exist because humans need transportation. 

Edited Friday at 05:02 PM by parkavenueguy

[swraith 345]

I see minimal to no broad public or political support for an infrastructure project focused on a rail system in Texas. 

Rural Texans will oppose the land usage.  Most Texans won't support any taxes for an infrastructure project.  Texans like using their cars to move around inside the state.

If Texas does anything infrastructure wise, I hope the state dramatically increases water reliability/availability. 

[Brisketexan 105,037]

I see minimal to no broad public or political support for an infrastructure project focused on a rail system in Texas. 

Rural Texans will oppose the land usage.  Most Texans won't support any taxes for an infrastructure project.  Texans like using their cars to move around inside the state.

If Texas does anything infrastructure wise, I hope the state dramatically increases water reliability/availability. 

The only way that it gets built is if we can shuffle giant slugs of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of people who contribute to the gov/lt gov campaigns/personal pocketbook. You all know that.

[swraith 345]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

The only way that it gets built is if we can shuffle giant slugs of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of people who contribute to the gov/lt gov campaigns/personal pocketbook. You all know that.

In which case, I would prefer the state to do nothing.

[Brisketexan 105,037]

2 minutes ago, swraith said:

In which case, I would prefer the state to do nothing.

You won't get that, either.

The current government of this state exists for one reason, and one reason only: to enrich and do the bidding of a handful of the wealthiest people on the planet.

Any other function is 1) entirely coincidental, and 2) likely on the chopping block in the next legislative session or two.

[Viper 12,096]

It's been over 5 years and we're not really any closer. It's been a 17 years and tens of billions of dollars  and the California rail  isn't much further. 

We'll have self driving cars before we get a rail built

[tx 3 putt 76,859]

On 3/11/2024 at 10:22 AM, Dahobbs said:

On a train from Brussels to Hamburg right now. Would be really nice to have something similar for the major Texas cities. 

 

hou to sa please !!!!!

[TKthunder2 4,985]

Seems like doing a proof of concept between Austin and San Antonio would be a good first step.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,226]

High speed that isn't driven from a national level has zero chance. It just doesn't make sense. It would be like deciding on a high speed train from your house to your current place of employment (assuming you don't work at home). Would be great for a couple people and even they might want to go somewhere else sometimes. It's an air travel alternative and if it isn't it should be if we want it to work.

[Nivek 16,916]

2 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

High speed that isn't driven from a national level has zero chance. It just doesn't make sense. It would be like deciding on a high speed train from your house to your current place of employment (assuming you don't work at home). Would be great for a couple people and even they might want to go somewhere else sometimes. It's an air travel alternative and if it isn't it should be if we want it to work.

When my father worked in Miami, he would park a shitty old car at the station and use that to drive to the office and then drive it back to the rail station.  Then he would hop back in his better car in the West Palm area and drive home.   He loved the train.  

[Pato del Muerto 52,484]

12 hours ago, Viper said:

It's been over 5 years and we're not really any closer. It's been a 17 years and tens of billions of dollars  and the California rail  isn't much further. 

We'll have self driving cars before we get a rail built

i would guess that many studies have been commissioned and paid handsomely for to firms with the correct connections.  And some may even have been delivered. 
 

Making no progress isn’t free, you know. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,506]

The gop is against it and there is little reason for any Dem admin to help out a Texas project. 

[Updawg 2,266]

When my father worked in Miami, he would park a shitty old car at the station and use that to drive to the office and then drive it back to the rail station.  Then he would hop back in his better car in the West Palm area and drive home.   He loved the train.  

That yellow line or whatever it’s called is great. We use it when we visit w palm

[BabaYaga 15,286]

17 hours ago, Updawg said:

That yellow line or whatever it’s called is great. We use it when we visit w palm

Miami?  "White line" seems more appropriate