Choo Choo! High Speed Rail Comes Closer to Completion in Texas

It's been over a decade of talk about a high-speed rail connecting Dallas to Houston, but, alas, obstacles have severely halted the project... until now.

Thanks to a $63.9 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, the project can now continue its construction.

What Will the High-Speed Rail Do?

Over 10 years ago, the project was first proposed to lay down 240 miles of track for a bullet train to whisk Texans from Dallas to Houston, through 10 different counties, in 90 minutes flat by 2020...

According to the original plan, the train would offer departures from Dallas or Houston every 30 minutes during peak travel times. Then, on off-peak periods, departures would occur every hour. The station would close for six hours at night for "maintenance and inspection."

Other additions promised within the project include the following:

• Wide seats with plenty of room and no squeezing to fit
• Budget-friendly food and beverage options
• Wi-Fi and power outlets a-plenty
• Retail stores and restaurants at each station

The project details have not changed, but the timeframe has clearly had some adjustments added. It turns out, 240 miles of bullet train tracks is pretty expensive!

Cha-Ching!

The $64 million grant from the FRA was just a part of a $153 million funding project from the U.S. Department of Transportation for Amtrak, the train operator company leading the project.

Wanna hear something funny? The project has taken so long that it switched company leaders once already. Amtrak only took over after years of planning and fundraising. It turns out that the first company to kickstart this massive venture was Texas Central Railway.

Are Texans split on support for this huge project? Sure, it'll make travel a bit easier, but it will definitely cost taxpayers a little more for maintenance.