What's the local temp on the Texas Bullet Train???

4,464 Views | 53 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by kraut
TyHolden
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AG
Thought this would be interesting.




edit: correct link is below. my bad.

https://original.newsbreak.com/@jalyn-smoot-1588339/2898655750882-texas-supreme-court-ruling-paves-way-for-30-billion-dollar-dallas-to-houston-bullet-train
PS3D
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TyHolden said:

Thought this would be interesting.




Check your sources. Article links to June 2022.
TyHolden
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AG
Sorry- here it is

https://original.newsbreak.com/@jalyn-smoot-1588339/2898655750882-texas-supreme-court-ruling-paves-way-for-30-billion-dollar-dallas-to-houston-bullet-train

Aggie@state.gov
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AG
will never happen. thank goodness
O.G.
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Never say never.

I know one Right Of Way Agent/Landman that has been working on real estate relocations on this project for the last several years. As far as I know they are the only one but she's fluent in Spanish which is necessary because she's specifically working in Houston in an area where the terminal will be.
LOYAL AG
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AG
Colossal waste of money that will eventually have to be subsidized by taxpayers. I can drive to the Houston terminal from my house in just over an hour and have my car when I get there. Or I can drive to the "local" station in 30 minutes then take the train to Houston in about 30 minutes to arrive at roughly the same time but not have my car. In other words BCS to Houston is useless. Dallas might have some value for locals because you can't fly direct to Love Field from here so getting dropped in downtown can be a nice feature that saves a decent amount of driving. To succeed it has to attract a material portion of the 5000 people that fly from Houston to Love Field or vice versa each day and I don't think it's going to be able to do that.
A fearful society is a compliant society. That's why Democrats and criminals prefer their victims to be unarmed. Gun Control is not about guns, it's about control.
BryanPooch
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No opinion. I'm old enough that I'll be dead before it rolls. Our society also may collapse before it could be ready.
BryanPooch
Jbob04
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AG
It will never be built.
Bucketrunner
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Something similar will eventually be built. Not in my lifetime, but alternative ways to relieve I45 have to be built. And if you think the selfish NIMBY group is screaming about this, just wait until they go after more land to expand the interstates. It won't be pretty.
BQ_90
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Bucketrunner said:

Something similar will eventually be built. Not in my lifetime, but alternative ways to relieve I45 have to be built. And if you think the selfish NIMBY group is screaming about this, just wait until they go after more land to expand the interstates. It won't be pretty.


Well it's hard to go along with ED taking your land when you then don't have access to the project at all. An expanded interstate doesn't block usage by those who lose their property
woodiewood1
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LOYAL AG said:

Colossal waste of money that will eventually have to be subsidized by taxpayers. I can drive to the Houston terminal from my house in just over an hour and have my car when I get there. Or I can drive to the "local" station in 30 minutes then take the train to Houston in about 30 minutes to arrive at roughly the same time but not have my car. In other words BCS to Houston is useless. Dallas might have some value for locals because you can't fly direct to Love Field from here so getting dropped in downtown can be a nice feature that saves a decent amount of driving. To succeed it has to attract a material portion of the 5000 people that fly from Houston to Love Field or vice versa each day and I don't think it's going to be able to do that.
Yep. I bet that If I was in Plano,TX and wanted get to downtown Houston, I would beat my next door neighbor who lives next door and too the bullet train.

By the time he drives across Dallas to get to the train terminal and check through security and wait for the train. Then get on the train and ride the projected 90 minutes down to the Greenspoint terminal in NW Houston, get off and either rent a car, take an Uber or taxi or wait a while and take another mass transit option to downtown Houston. I suspect I would bet him to downtown Houston or he won't save significant time to make it worthwhile.

The only benefit that I see is that you could do some work while on the train.

Bucketrunner
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I've seen fields cut completely in half by I45 when it was built. Can you imagine the brouhaha if you tried to build that today???
ElephantRider
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O.G. said:

Never say never.

I know one Right Of Way Agent/Landman that has been working on real estate relocations on this project for the last several years. As far as I know they are the only one but she's fluent in Spanish which is necessary because she's specifically working in Houston in an area where the terminal will be.

They've already bought quite a bit of ROW. I know quite a few people that have worked on it.

They are broke, though. I'm in the "it's never going to happen" camp.

My hope is that someone scoops up that ROW a repurposes it for a 500kV+/HVDC backbone transmission line
BQ_90
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Bucketrunner said:

I've seen fields cut completely in half by I45 when it was built. Can you imagine the brouhaha if you tried to build that today???


At least those people impacted had use of the interstates. They won't here.

Also there was a national interest or justification for the interstates. There isn't any of that with the train
Jsimonds58
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AG
There are about 15 different episodes of top gear and the grand tour that cover this exact subject. Finally answer is that it depends lol
Bucketrunner
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Just curious, as I have no skin in the game, but what would be your solution to the traffic problems on 45 (and other major highway thoroughfares)? Adding lanes obviously is not the answer.
veritas47
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The only non-construction traffic issues on I45 are inside the metro areas. The train won't even attempt to alleviate those issues.
BQ_90
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Bucketrunner said:

Just curious, as I have no skin in the game, but what would be your solution to the traffic problems on 45 (and other major highway thoroughfares)? Adding lanes obviously is not the answer.



How does the train fix that? It doesn't stop 18 wheeler traffic. There isn't commuters going from Houston to Dallas every day for work causing the traffic. I-69 once finish might help. I thought 21 had plans for,east west interstate.

A boondoggle train that'll cost tax payers money for ever sure isn't the answer
O.G.
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ElephantRider said:

O.G. said:

Never say never.

I know one Right Of Way Agent/Landman that has been working on real estate relocations on this project for the last several years. As far as I know they are the only one but she's fluent in Spanish which is necessary because she's specifically working in Houston in an area where the terminal will be.

They've already bought quite a bit of ROW. I know quite a few people that have worked on it.

They are broke, though. I'm in the "it's never going to happen" camp.

My hope is that someone scoops up that ROW a repurposes it for a 500kV+/HVDC backbone transmission line
We probably know each other or have crossed paths then. I was one of the original landmen/ROW agents on it.

IMHO, if they are going to do it, they should stick to the I-45 &I-35 corridors. These things don't need 150ft of ROW, not even close. Using existing ROW would minimize the private property footprint & cut costs.
dubi
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BryanPooch said:

No opinion. I'm old enough that I'll be dead before it rolls. Our society also may collapse before it could be ready.
Our society has already collapsed.
Txmoe
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AG
I suspect the farmers and townies will be against it!

(Not a shot at OP, just lamenting the fact that mods sanitize the fun out of threads for no good reason.)
BiochemAg97
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Bucketrunner said:

Just curious, as I have no skin in the game, but what would be your solution to the traffic problems on 45 (and other major highway thoroughfares)? Adding lanes obviously is not the answer.



Didn't Perry or someone have a plan to widen the right of way to half a mile wide, separate trucks from cars on different highways, drop a rail line in the middle, and also use the r.o.w. for high speed data fiber and high voltage power.

That would certainly cause some fun with E.D.
Bucketrunner
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That was actually a more feasible idea than this train. Adding lanes and building bigger highways is certainly not the answer.
woodiewood1
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Bucketrunner said:

I've seen fields cut completely in half by I45 when it was built. Can you imagine the brouhaha if you tried to build that today???
We just did that with some ranchers with Hwy 249 from Magnolia to Hwy 105.

People are more apt to accept it when the state or Feds do it for transportation rather than illegal confiscation by a state sanctioned private company.
woodiewood1
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O.G. said:

ElephantRider said:

O.G. said:

Never say never.

I know one Right Of Way Agent/Landman that has been working on real estate relocations on this project for the last several years. As far as I know they are the only one but she's fluent in Spanish which is necessary because she's specifically working in Houston in an area where the terminal will be.

They've already bought quite a bit of ROW. I know quite a few people that have worked on it.

They are broke, though. I'm in the "it's never going to happen" camp.

My hope is that someone scoops up that ROW a repurposes it for a 500kV+/HVDC backbone transmission line
We probably know each other or have crossed paths then. I was one of the original landmen/ROW agents on it.

IMHO, if they are going to do it, they should stick to the I-45 &I-35 corridors. These things don't need 150ft of ROW, not even close. Using existing ROW would minimize the private property footprint & cut costs.
Why couldn't they have run a mostly elevated rail line right down the edge of the I45 ROW? I would think the cost might not be much more if any that purchasing all the land and development of the ground based rail lines.

O.G.
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woodiewood1 said:

O.G. said:

ElephantRider said:

O.G. said:

Never say never.

I know one Right Of Way Agent/Landman that has been working on real estate relocations on this project for the last several years. As far as I know they are the only one but she's fluent in Spanish which is necessary because she's specifically working in Houston in an area where the terminal will be.

They've already bought quite a bit of ROW. I know quite a few people that have worked on it.

They are broke, though. I'm in the "it's never going to happen" camp.

My hope is that someone scoops up that ROW a repurposes it for a 500kV+/HVDC backbone transmission line
We probably know each other or have crossed paths then. I was one of the original landmen/ROW agents on it.

IMHO, if they are going to do it, they should stick to the I-45 &I-35 corridors. These things don't need 150ft of ROW, not even close. Using existing ROW would minimize the private property footprint & cut costs.
Why couldn't they have run a mostly elevated rail line right down the edge of the I45 ROW? I would think the cost might not be much more if any that purchasing all the land and development of the ground based rail lines.


The last version that I saw, keep in mind this was in 2016 or 2017, did have it elevated in some places.

There was a route/version that did use a lot of I45, I went and talked to a bunch of Ranchers/Farmers/Real Estate people over there during that time. However, for whatever reason, that got shut down. The story we were told (Full disclosure, I do not know how true this is) is that there was a major investor and/or a huge sports team owner that had a ranch somewhere near proposed track and did not want it in their back yard. Again, that's what we were told.

There has been a fair amount of land already purchased between Houston and Dallas. The northern most point of my area was around Buffalo/Centerville area so I don't know what the case is as you get closer to DFW.

The last major route that I saw was going to be next to the major powerline ROW in Grimes County going north. There is/was an issue with a coal mine that was in the way & some other issues as well.

I have seen mass commuter rail in DC, NYC and Chicago & I do know that you do not need a huge ROW for this. You need the width of the track and an area for maintenance/emergency vehicles. I can not fathom how they would need 150ft or anything like that. Freight trains and Amtrack get by in a lot smaller areas than that.

A few myths/legends that have persisted that I still hear that I can help with:
It is not Chinese owned. Period. It was 100% started by a group of American investors.

The technology/train system itself is/was going to be Japanese, not Chinese. (Not trying to rude/sarcastic here but I STG a lot of people don't know the difference, its sad) The reason they were going with the Japanese tech is because of their safety record, high reliability & the Japanese seem to have this down to a science. (I've never ridden Japan's rail system but my brother has while in the USMC and he told me it runs like a sewing machine)

There was never realistically a route that came directly to BCS, there was a drawing of one, but it was never in the top 3 for consideration. The closest that I saw was Roans Prairie(ish) but there was going to be a stop there for commuters/games etc & proposed parking garages etc etc.

Don't believe every politician that is "fighting" it. More support it than you know, in both parties. It did have bi-partisan support on the Federal and State level including 2 former Presidents, one in each party. Some local politicians on the proposed route have used it as a plank in their platform to get elected. Its a win/win for them no matter what happens. If it completely goes away, they can tell their voters that they fought it and won. If it happens they can be a Martyr and say they were outnumbered by big city politicians etc. Not naming names, but this has definitely happened.

I do not know the current status of it, as far as investors coming/going etc., but I do know that it never has completely gone away. There have been landmen/ROW agents working quietly on it in Houston and other areas this entire time.
Koko Chingo
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LOYAL AG said:

Colossal waste of money that will eventually have to be subsidized by taxpayers. I can drive to the Houston terminal from my house in just over an hour and have my car when I get there. Or I can drive to the "local" station in 30 minutes then take the train to Houston in about 30 minutes to arrive at roughly the same time but not have my car. In other words BCS to Houston is useless.
And that's assuming the train leaves (with you on it) the instant you arrive. You will probably have to be in the boarding area at least 20 - 30 minutes early. Unless it is a huge event like Houston hosting the Olympics - Super bowl - World Cup - its is definitely not worth it to go to Houston from BCS.

They need to work on making travel convenient within each city before they make plans to connect them with high speed rail.

...or make every Buc-ee's a high speed rail stop.
Aggie
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AG
They have been talking about a high speed bullet train from Houston to Dallas passing through CS since at least the mid 90's
ratfacemcdougal
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Thanks for the write up.
LOYAL AG
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AG
Bucketrunner said:

Just curious, as I have no skin in the game, but what would be your solution to the traffic problems on 45 (and other major highway thoroughfares)? Adding lanes obviously is not the answer.



So you declare the most obvious answer as not the answer then expect us to solve a problem without what is clearly the most obvious answer. Interesting debate technique there. If you're going to eliminate the obvious answer then isn't it up to you to come up with an alternative?

Adding a 3rd lane from Huntsville (or wherever 45 goes to two lanes) to Corsicana or so would make 45 significantly better than it is today. Much of the problems on that road stem from it being two lanes on a relatively hilly stretch of road so you get tractor trailers clogging things up.
A fearful society is a compliant society. That's why Democrats and criminals prefer their victims to be unarmed. Gun Control is not about guns, it's about control.
PS3D
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Bucketrunner said:

That was actually a more feasible idea than this train. Adding lanes and building bigger highways is certainly not the answer.


Looks like someone's fallen for the induced demand myth.
BQ_90
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Bucketrunner said:

That was actually a more feasible idea than this train. Adding lanes and building bigger highways is certainly not the answer.
why isn't it the answer? Tell me how to move people and freight any faster?

Also why have interstates if the solution is for nobody to use them. So traffic will always be a factor with interstates.
Bucketrunner
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Bear in mind that I am a country mouse:

The idea of Interstates looking like the loop around Houston just horrifies me. There just has to be a better solution.
techno-ag
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Bucketrunner said:

Bear in mind that I am a country mouse:

The idea of Interstates looking like the loop around Houston just horrifies me. There just has to be a better solution.
Nope. Interstates are here and already have the ROW. The idea of keeping them from being developed in order to try and control growth proved disastrous in Austin. They held back on infrastructure development, the growth came anyway, and now it's a disaster. Let's not spread that kind of faulty thinking throughout the state.
BCS-Ag
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This is one of those "for the greater good" sort of things, and will be forever controversial, even after it's built and in use. I've ridden the bullet trains in Japan and they are AMAZING. The run on time to the minute, no waiting. You arrive and you get on the train. Add in the speed and they end up being faster than air travel by a significant amount, and they are much easier to work on.

Although I have a lot of sympathy for those in the path, I do think something of this scale will be necessary to just keep up with the growth we are already seeing, let alone what is coming.

Also, keep in mind the local growth trends - as we heard last week - we are going to be at nearing half a million people in our metro within the next 30 years. These are the type of long term, drastic, steps that will be needed to accommodate this without turning us into the snarled traffic mess in Austin and Houston that many have spoken of above.
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