In what has been a whirlwind of information the last week, Texas Central, the company behind the potential High Speed rail project from Houston to Dallas, has claimed another win, which they say is a major step toward construction.
According to a press release on Tuesday from Webuild, an Italian engineering firm part of US based Lane Construction, rulings at the federal level granted Texas Central a Rule of Particular Applicability (RPA), and a Record of Decision (RoD). In short, these rulings set the safety requirements for the track’s signal and trainset control, and also confirm the alignment the rail will run between Dallas and Houston.
Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar said “This is the moment we have been working towards. The release of the final RPA and ROD by the Federal Railroad Administration represents years of work by countless individuals, affirming a very thorough and careful federal regulatory process that will make the Texas Central Railroad the first high-speed rail system to be implemented in the United States.”
A comment from Erin Ragsdale, a PR representative for Texas Central, said that “Texas Central Railroad has already secured letters of intent from banks in Japan and Europe, reflecting the financial viability of the project, and now is working toward achieving formal commitments from these entities, as well as others in the United States.”
She also added they continue work on other necessary permits and approvals.
Local politicians for Grimes County, such as State Representative Ben Leman and Congressman Kevin Brady, have shared their displeasure with the announcement.
Leman said in a release Texas Central can “try to spin this however it likes, but the Federal Railroad Administration’s Record of Decision does not give the company permission to construct their project. The issuance of this Record of Decision doesn’t change the facts that Texas Central has put up Texas land as collateral to the Japanese government in the event the project fails, while at the same time asking for billions in federal dollars to prop up its so-called “private project” that is already failing in its “conceptual design” stage,” said Leman.
Brady sent out a statement, where he said “The Federal Railroad Administration’s decision was expected, and does not give TCR’s controversial high speed rail project approval. Nor does it give them construction authority or the power to seize property without the owner’s consent. The bottom line is TCR’s project remains unfeasible and unrealistic. The cost of this project has tripled since its inception, investors have abandoned the project, supporters have reneged on earlier promises and TCR is now actively seeking taxpayer dollars to subsidize the financially shaky project. This high speed rail stands to severely harm our rural communities and could leave American taxpayers footing the enormous bill for this mistake.”
Last week, a release was sent out by Representative leman’s office, which stated that Texas Central, alongside the Japenese government, had an offshore entity in the Caymans, controlling the land where the train is to be built. He said in the release that Texas Central put the land up as “collateral to get a loan from the Japanese government.” He also said in the release that Texas Central did not disclose that relationship to landowners.
Ragsdale, a PR representative for Texas Central, responded to that press release, saying “Texas Central currently has control of over 600 parcels of land needed for the project. This represents roughly 40% of the land needed. Now that the alignment has been formally selected, we will continue to engage in personalized, open and collaborative discussions with landowners, outlining the project’s benefits, listening to their concerns and answering their questions.”
There has been no set date for start of construction.
Currently, there are no scheduled future public hearings regarding the high speed train.