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Dallas-to-Houston bullet train clears two federal regulatory hurdles, company says

The proposed high-speed rail would run from Dallas to Houston in 90 minutes, with a stop in the Brazos Valley, between College Station and Huntsville.

Updated at 3:50 p.m.: Revised to include additional comment from Texas Central Railroad.

Plans for a bullet train from Dallas to Houston have cleared two federal regulatory hurdles, allowing Texas Central Railroad to move closer to construction, the company announced Monday.

Texas Central said the Federal Railroad Administration has finalized two key regulatory processes for the project: one establishing safety requirements and another completing an environmental review process.

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The company said in a news release that it’s ready to build and “will proceed to construction as soon as possible.” But an attorney who represents the Texans Against High-Speed Rail group said Texas Central is “nowhere near” beginning construction.

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The Federal Railroad Administration confirmed Texas Central’s announcement Monday afternoon.

The company said the final documents would be published soon in the Federal Register. A pre-publication version — 327 pages long — was posted on the Federal Railroad Administration’s website earlier this month.

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Carlos Aguilar, CEO of Texas Central Railroad, said the announcement is the culmination of years of work and marks “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.”

“This is the moment we have been working towards,” Aguilar said in a written statement.

The proposed high-speed rail would run from Dallas to Houston in 90 minutes, with a stop in the Brazos Valley, between College Station and Huntsville.

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Plans for the high-speed rail have faced opposition for years, with opponents arguing that the private company would abuse eminent domain to develop the route.

More than two dozen Republican state lawmakers wrote to the Department of Transportation in April, urging it to put an end to work on the bullet train and saying it’s clear Texas Central “does not have the financial resources or expertise employed to continue with this project.”

Several North Texas lawmakers signed the letter, including state Sen. Brian Birdwell of Granbury, and state Reps. John Wray of Waxahachie, Mike Lang of Granbury, Keith Bell of Forney and Drew Springer of Gainesville.

“To proceed otherwise would be an inexcusable waste of taxpayer dollars and jeopardizes the integrity of the rules-making process at the Federal Railroad Administration,” they wrote in the letter.

Aguilar pushed back at the time, saying that the project is “shovel-ready” and that it can help the state’s economy.

But Kyle Workman, the chairman and president of Texans Against High-Speed Rail, said in a written statement Monday that the company’s clearance of the federal regulatory steps “are simply arranging deck chairs on the Titanic” rather than making significant progress.

Patrick McShan, who along with Blake Beckham of the Beckham Group, represents Texans Against High-Speed Rail and landowners along the planned route for the bullet train, said Texas Central hasn’t filed an application for the project with the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency with jurisdiction over it.

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McShan said that even at the fastest pace possible, it would take Texas Central more than a year to get the application approved, which is necessary before construction.

He said Texas Central has underestimated its cost and overestimated its ridership — “a recipe for disaster for any infrastructure project, especially for high-speed rail.”

“It is a bad idea. It will lose hundreds of millions of dollars from day one if it is ever built,” he said. “Meanwhile, it will tear up 240 miles of private property across East Texas.”

McShan said that in addition to an eminent-domain lawsuit that’s on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, the group opposing the rail will take legal action to challenge the federal regulatory actions.

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A spokeswoman for Texas Central, which estimates the cost of the project at $20 billion on its website, said the company expects that construction will begin in the first half of next year and that it doesn’t anticipate delays from opponents of the railway.

Erin Ragsdale, the spokeswoman, said the company was working to secure the permits and approvals it needs to begin construction, noting that Aguilar has said Texas Central is confident it will get the Surface Transportation Board’s approval.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said Monday that the high-speed route would be transformative for the city and strengthen its economy.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat whose district includes northern and eastern Dallas County, also lauded the company’s progress, calling the rail line a “common-sense project” with bipartisan support.

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“When Texans work together we can do big things,” Allred said in a written statement. “I’m proud to have led the Texas delegation in support of this project, and I will continue to work across the aisle from my role on the Transportation Committee to move this project forward.”

Staff writer Tom Steele contributed to this report.