"Since 2009, Texas Central has been planning a high-speed rail route between Dallas and Houston, bringing on Amtrak to help in 2023. San Antonio, Travis and Bexar counties, and even an elected official from Nuevo Leon, Mexico have expressed unified support for connecting Austin and San Antonio to that line They urged the state legislature to help last year by matching at least some of the $63.9 million in federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act."
"But the Trump administration removed those federal dollars in April. Though Texas Central has expressed confidence in its private sector funding, it has only acquired about a quarter of the land necessary to build the route so far. With an estimated cost of the project of about $40 billion, any public dollars would help. Part of the extraordinary cost is land acquisition, something that has been a roadblock to the project of high-speed rail in Texas."
Travis County Commissioners Court approved nearly $125,000 to fund a feasibility study for commuter rail between Austin and San Antonio. Texas Central has pursued a separate high-speed Dallas–Houston line since 2009 and added Amtrak as a partner in 2023. San Antonio, Travis and Bexar counties and a Nuevo Leon official support connection to that high-speed route and sought state matching of $63.9 million in federal IIJA funds. Federal dollars were removed in April, and Texas Central has acquired only about a quarter of needed land. The study will examine using state highway right-of-way to reduce costly land acquisition and speed delivery.
Read at Austin Monitor
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