A Dallas company, Texas Central, has been planning to build a high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston and has reached a deal with a global consortium to carry out the project. An official announcement from the company is expected soon.
Carlos Aguilar, the new SEO of Texas Central, has experience with large transportation projects like this in Mexico, London, and California. He says that the key to managing these projects is always the partnerships, in this case the design consortium. But it’s not all steady sailing for Texas Central. Critics are unhappy about eminent domain land acquisition in our state, though Aguilar says they are making progress reaching agreeable deals with landowners in the train’s proposed path.
Critics have also worked against the project in the Texas legislature, proposing legislation that would prevent Texas Central from receiving state money, though that seems unlikely to succeed at this time.
And then there will be the expected morass of permits and procedures. No fewer than 19 federal and state agencies are involved with this project. The current price tag stands at $16 billion dollars. They hope to break ground next year and be ready for business in 2023 or 2024.