Anyone know some politicians they could contact about leaning their weight on a line through B/CS?

Meeting scheduled for:
October 27, 2014
Brazos Center
3232 Briarcrest Dr.
Bryan, TX

Article Link

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The routes being studied for a high-speed rail line that could move people from Dallas to Houston in 90 minutes were released late Friday. Maps detailing those possible alignments will be the focus of a public meeting Tuesday.

A company called Texas Central High-Speed Rail is securing billions in private funding to build the line, which will be about 240 miles long. The company wants to end the line in or near downtown Dallas, though a specific terminus hasn't been selected. Developers want it to easily tie into Dallas Area Rapid Transit's light-rail network. Its decision could affect where DART puts a second downtown line, though that local agency doesn't yet have funding for that long-awaited project.

An estimated 50,000 people drive between Houston and North Texas more than once a week. Traveling the route on Interstate 45 takes about four hours. The drive is expected to take seven hours by 2035.

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The yellow line would be nice.

Monorail...monorail...monorail...

Seems like a better plan would be to move the terminals to a location out of downtown so there would be ample parking. Then run a spur to the downtown areas for the non-driving riders, which would also tie in the complete DART and Metro systems.

Looks like neither of the possible assignments go through CS, the one closest runs outside of city limits?

I love B/CS--lived here since 1985--but even with our projected growth, B/CS will never have the ridership to justify a private consortium to spend the major $$$ running the line through here. If they add a line going from Houston to Austin & San Antonio, then a line through here might be plausible.

Looks like if it does come threw here that it would have a stop near the Bio-Corridor/Atlas Development.

Green comes right by my property. Looks like I'll be fighting another railroad proposal.

Not in MY backyard! Oh wait, it's not. Fight the good fight, Yuc. I pity those fools already.

My fight before was over the absurd amount of money that would have been spent making the RR crossings MORE dangerous by moving them into the Brazos bottom land (I know, it's hard to get a rational head around it). In truth, it was just an A&M beautification project that would have ended up costing the US taxpayers a 1/2 billion dollars (my estimate) when grade separations would serve a better result from a safety standpoint (IMO and statistically supported).

I shot off my mouth in my first post....yes, I have worked my entire life to create something special where I am and it would be a huge disappointment to see that erased. By the time anything happens with high speed rail, I'll be dead for 30 years, but the legacy I wanted to leave behind may be more fleeting than I had hoped.

Such is life.

The rail would probably have the same effect you're describing for some but it looks like they're trying to fit it along existing corridors and easements.

It's a privately funded venture at this point, but will probably ask for public assistance at the terminals.

I doubt it will come through the Brazos valley given the additional cost, but the growth of the market and its position as a possible extension to the Austin market could make it attractive. There's a pretty significant travel volume between Houston and College Station outside of football Saturday's.

Just wanted to add to the plurality of views.

The map above shows all of the options. The map below are the two options that were chosen to be studied in detail. The final alignment will more likely resemble one of these alignments than any of the others. The red alignment follows the BNSF railroad out of houston for most of the way, while the yellow alignment follows a utility corridor (electrical transmission lines) for most of the way.

An economic and cost consideration for the green route along the Brazos River is the extensive archeological effort that would be placed on a company wanting to create a major easement through there. I was involved in a 60 mile pipeline project in Wyoming 30 years ago through a checkerboard of Fed BLM land and UPRR and the archeological burdens back then were a HUGE factor, especially on the timing to complete.

Easements and ROW issues, on top of cost and funding, will probably ensure each of us is dead before this comes to fruition, if ever. You can talk private funding all you want but projects of this magnitude don't get done without a healthy dose of public funds.

That said, I'd rather have a train cutting across my property instead of a highway. Growing up, we lived right on a state highway. That meant a cavalcade of characters wanting to borrow the phone, needing help, wanting to fish (we had ponds), etc. Pass.

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Easements and ROW issues, on top of cost and funding, will probably ensure each of us is dead before this comes to fruition, if ever. You can talk private funding all you want but projects of this magnitude don't get done without a healthy dose of public funds.

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and eminent domain.

Yea nobody should hold their breath on this happening anytime soon.

That said, agreeing to follow existing ROW makes the project move forward to some degree.

The biggest opposition with $$ against this, that no one is talking about is Southwest Airlines. This is a huge cash cow for them, flights back and forth. I am waiting to see some major $$$ lobbying against this.

They backed off the opposition years ago. They're pretty concentrated on themselves with the Wright amendment gone now

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They backed off the opposition years ago. They're pretty concentrated on themselves with the Wright amendment gone now

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Ding, ding, ding. SW is licking their chops with the Wright Amendment dead.

Thanks for the update.


Next thought, I wonder what they are going to do with the mess of I35, especially between Austin and San Antonio. Seems like that would be a great spot for rail from Dallas - Austin - San Antonio, maybe its harder because the land is more expensive? More towns to go through, that have expensive real estate?

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That said, agreeing to follow existing ROW makes the project move forward to some degree.

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Existing ROW exacerbates the conflicts with freight.

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That said, agreeing to follow existing ROW makes the project move forward to some degree.

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Existing ROW exacerbates the conflicts with freight.

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Even along the powerlines?

I thought it needed new rails & was electric powered.

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That said, agreeing to follow existing ROW makes the project move forward to some degree.

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Existing ROW exacerbates the conflicts with freight.

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Even along the powerlines?

I thought it needed new rails & was electric powered.

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I confess that I haven't read the plans that closely. I was assuming that the ROW is not wide enough to put in a whole new set of tracks used only for the HSR along the entire length of the route. If it is wide enough, and that's the plan it should be better... but if freight lines and passenger lines share the new rails or even cross one another, then I think that potentially slows things down... just as I assume that freight traffic currently has to deal with scheduling to avoid conflicts.

My last reply was made shortly after waiting for a long freight train to make it through campus.

Gotcha.

Update Article

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The 240-mile project, which could be the first high-speed rail line in America, is expected to get people between the two cities in 90 minutes. If funding is secured and federal approval granted, the train could be running by 2021.

Texas Central looked at several possible routes and has identified two as the most viable for the project. They are part of a draft environmental impact statement being overseen by the Federal Railroad Administration and the Texas Department of Transportation.

"We've been working hard to try and narrow down the options," said Jerry Smiley, project manager with engineering consultant URS.

Tuesday's meeting in Dallas was the first of six to be held in cities along potential routes this month.

Texas Central plans to build the project completely with private funds and has already begun soliciting investors. Although the company has not said how much the project will cost, estimates put the amount at about $10 billion.

The company has the power to use eminent domain for the project. The two routes selected for closer consideration largely follow existing rail lines or utility rights of way, which would minimize the need for land purchases or seizure.

The company estimates it needs only 3,000 acres between Dallas and Houston in addition to existing rights of way to build the 240-mile line.

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I thought of these threads when I read this post on MagLev on Bloomberg View

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If you just add intercity mass transit without increasing the number of people you can move around a city, one of two things happens: Ridership will stay far below expectations, or you'll dump more people into your overloaded streets, making local congestion worse. This is why there's a good argument for high-speed rail over Maglev -- when you're not running high-speed trains, you can move some commuters point to point.

For that matter, there's a good argument for not building the Maglev at all and instead investing the money in better commuter rail. But that doesn't get us any closer to the really important goal, which is letting me ride a Maglev.

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I think you could substitute high speed rail for Maglev in the last part.

I agree Bio. Mass transit is a tough sell out here.

Also, I still think a "local" train making some additional stops along the way a couple times a day, would gin up more interest.

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I thought of these threads when I read this post on MagLev on Bloomberg View

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If you just add intercity mass transit without increasing the number of people you can move around a city, one of two things happens: Ridership will stay far below expectations, or you'll dump more people into your overloaded streets, making local congestion worse. This is why there's a good argument for high-speed rail over Maglev -- when you're not running high-speed trains, you can move some commuters point to point.

For that matter, there's a good argument for not building the Maglev at all and instead investing the money in better commuter rail. But that doesn't get us any closer to the really important goal, which is letting me ride a Maglev.

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I think you could substitute high speed rail for Maglev in the last part.

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This point is very much correct. Similar to people in Houston complaining about "Why is METRO building light rail instead of commuter rail in from the suburbs?!?!?!" Without some way to move those commuters around within the city, it doesn't make a lot of sense for people to be carless once they get downtown.

Houston should look at DART in DFW. I thought it was dumb, originally until I actually used it for commute. Allot of my coworkers would commute from Plano/Richardson/even Arlington into the main downtown station and then walk a few blocks to work. Cut down commutes and cost of commuting (also stress). I wish there were better rail options existed in Houston and Austin.

Why is it expected to take 7 hours in twenty years?

If you've been on 45 on a busy Sunday when there's traffic, it can easily take 5 hours from Houston to Dallas. Heck, I've been log jammed on a week night driving between the two.

The more cars that are on the road the slower everyone goes. Crawling on an interstate at 55 miles an hour sucks.

A little more info from Future Structure: http://www.futurestructure.com/Texas-High-Speed-Rail-Routes-Revealed.html

I can still remember Austin and Houston when they had rail running all over their downtown areas, and electric busses, too. People actually used that form of transportation and it was pretty handy. Then we free'd ourselves to automobiles and now we have urban sprawl and traffic jams. Funny how progress works.

Blue/Orange has this in the bag.