For a lot cheaper, you could add a self driving car only lane with no exits between Huntsville and Ennis in which you allow cars to drive 100+ mph.

I looked at this when it first came out. For what they want to spend on this train you could:

1. Build a new runway and new terminal in Dallas for Houston-Dallas flights only.
2. Build a new runway and terminal in Houston for Houston-Dallas flights only.
3. Buy enough 737s to run flights between the two cities every 30 minutes 24/7/365 plus 20% more to be serviced while the others are flying.
4. Replace the planes every 15 years with new planes in perpetuity.
4. Hire enough pilots, and flight attendants to staff the flights.
5. Pay for all fuel and maintenance and airport taxes.
6. Charge $0 for every seat.

The amount of money they want to spend is insane and a colossal waste of money. Only way I'm OK with it is if all parties involved have to put up the cash before getting started, agree that they will be ineligible for bankruptcy, and can do complete the project without the use of eminent domain. Since that last one is out the window, I will never support this project.

This is the solution, it's much closer to being feasible than a bullet train and it's inevitable. We already have vehicles that are semi-autonomous. Saying roads are not the answer is denying the revolution that is about to happen and subjecting us to enormously wasteful spending that can be avoided.

agnerd said:

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I looked at this when it first came out. For what they want to spend on this train you could:

1. Build a new runway and new terminal in Dallas for Houston-Dallas flights only.
2. Build a new runway and terminal in Houston for Houston-Dallas flights only.
3. Buy enough 737s to run flights between the two cities every 30 minutes 24/7/365 plus 20% more to be serviced while the others are flying.
4. Replace the planes every 15 years with new planes in perpetuity.
4. Hire enough pilots, and flight attendants to staff the flights.
5. Pay for all fuel and maintenance and airport taxes.
6. Charge $0 for every seat.

The amount of money they want to spend is insane and a colossal waste of money. Only way I'm OK with it is if all parties involved have to put up the cash before getting started, agree that they will be ineligible for bankruptcy, and can do complete the project without the use of eminent domain. Since that last one is out the window, I will never support this project.

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...and you can bet there will tremendous cost inflation. The original cost I can remember was 12 BILLION and lately I have seen a figure of 30+ BILLION. More than likely before the first riding rides from DFW to Houston the cost will be upwards of 100 BILLION with the Texas taxpayers paying for much of the increase.

Eminent Domain laws should never be forced on landowners to sell their land to a private company.

BiochemAg97 said:

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woodiewood1 said:

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agnerd said:

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I looked at this when it first came out. For what they want to spend on this train you could:

1. Build a new runway and new terminal in Dallas for Houston-Dallas flights only.
2. Build a new runway and terminal in Houston for Houston-Dallas flights only.
3. Buy enough 737s to run flights between the two cities every 30 minutes 24/7/365 plus 20% more to be serviced while the others are flying.
4. Replace the planes every 15 years with new planes in perpetuity.
4. Hire enough pilots, and flight attendants to staff the flights.
5. Pay for all fuel and maintenance and airport taxes.
6. Charge $0 for every seat.

The amount of money they want to spend is insane and a colossal waste of money. Only way I'm OK with it is if all parties involved have to put up the cash before getting started, agree that they will be ineligible for bankruptcy, and can do complete the project without the use of eminent domain. Since that last one is out the window, I will never support this project.

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...and you can bet there will tremendous cost inflation. The original cost I can remember was 12 BILLION and lately I have seen a figure of 30+ BILLION. More than likely before the first riding rides from DFW to Houston the cost will be upwards of 100 BILLION with the Texas taxpayers paying for much of the increase.

Eminent Domain laws should never be forced on landowners to sell their land to a private company.

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I thought this was a private company and private finance. Where/when/why are the taxpayer in the hook for the cost overruns?

Presumably, if the project doesn't make the revenue to pay the debts, it will declare bankruptcy and either restructure the debt or be sold at auction to a new operator.

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When it's half constructed and they go belly-up, no private entity will take on the cost to finish the project. I would bet you that they will go to the state and/or the feds for investment. I don't presume that a new private entity would involve themselves in it. All the high speed rail systems in the U.S. are public tax funded except one being built in Florida that only goes 55 miles from coast to cost. Hopefully you are correct.

No taxpayer funding for transportation boondoggles like this.

FlyRod said:

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Glad to (hopefully) have an alternative to driving to Houston. Not that I'm optimistic it will actually happen.

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It's going to take 30-40 minutes to drive to the train station, board the train, etc. then you have to arrange a ride to your final destination.

For 20-30 more minutes one way, you're in Houston and don't have to pay an Uber.

I'd never consider this, even going to Dallas.

O.G. said:

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woodiewood1 said:

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O.G. said:

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ElephantRider said:

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O.G. said:

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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It's a boondoggle and the cost would never be recovered, especially in this current environment. The price point would have to be at or below airfare between the two cities because you are still having the hassle of security screenings and finding transportation to and from wherever you are actually going. The amount of steel and concrete in that project is huge. Private investment was never feasible and eventually it would of been an eyesore patch work mess of construction that the we the tax payers would have to bail out just cause some a-holes want to play Vanderbilt on a fast train. Not to mention the strain on local county resources from having your county separated.

He won't have to worry as the thing will never be built.

In the counties where they do own land, they are delinquent in their property taxes'

This was also a land grab at each end to develop the areas around each terminus into a big development.

Hgh speed rail in Europe, China, and Japan are awesome. I absolutely love them. You can go from city center to city center quickly with a short walk to a subway that can take you anywhere else in the city in a few minutes more. I'd love to have that in Texas. It works well.

The problem with Dallas and especially for Houston is that once you arrive, there is no viable public transportation system (other than public roads) You are going to need to rent a car to get anywhere else. Can you imagine the line at the rental car stand once an entire trainload of people arrive all at once? I'd rather just drive and save the hassle.

Rail could be somewhat beneficial if it took you to an airport where you could disembark and jump on a flight without the hassle of parking and shuttles - but it doesn't.

I'd wager we will have self-driving cars before this ever gets built. While they may still be comparatively slow, they will at least free you up to do business, read, sleep, write snarky posts on social media, or whatever and that will be enough to satisfy most people.