If the concept of a high-speed train zipping across the Lone Star State sounds familiar, it should. The early-90s found Texans excited about the prospect of a 90-minute trip between Dallas and Houston, but reluctant to pay for it. Well, the idea has come up again, but with an important difference: Private funding.
Robert Eckels, the president of Texas Central Railway, briefed the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition on the idea this week and said he’s confident that, this time, the dream of high-speed rail might actually become a reality.
The TCR plan is for a 205-mile-an hour train carrying more than 300 passengers between Houston and Dallas with a stop in Fort Worth, as well. The trains would run every half hour during peak times and every hour overnight.
Eckels says Japanese banks and investors from both sides of the Pacific Ocean are interested in funding the project, with construction beginning as early as 2016 and the first trains running four years after that. Asked how much a ticket would cost, and Eckels says “as much as we can charge you.” Seriously, it would be about 80% of the cost of an airline ticket.
Jim Ryan