Following a White House visit from Japan’s chief executive, the U.S. and Japan have both seemed to reaffirm support of the Dallas-to-Houston high-speed rail project.
The White House released a fact sheet Wednesday after President Joe Biden welcomed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The two leaders affirmed or reaffirmed several “political understandings” on a number of issues ranging from defense and security to economic cooperation to diplomacy and development.
But leading up to the meeting, Reuters reported that Biden is seeking to revive interest in the multi-billion-dollar project. Three sources familiar with the summit preparations told the outlet that Texas Central’s project would be on the agenda for talks.
Following the meeting, the fact sheet noted the U.S. Department of Transportation and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism welcomed Amtrak’s leadership of the project.
“The successful completion of development efforts and other requirements would position the project for potential future funding and financing opportunities,” White House officials wrote in the fact sheet.
Editorial: High-speed rail: Dallas to Houston should go full steam ahead
The proposal that aims to shuttle passengers from Dallas to Houston in about 90 minutes has been in development for a decade. The 220-mile drive between the proposed stations takes at least three-and-a-half hours. Japan has a stake in the project as Texas Central is partnered with Japan Central Railways, which owns and operates the country’s Shinkansen bullet train.
It has gained steam in the last few months after Amtrak announced in August it is exploring a partnership with Texas Central for the route. With Amtrak’s involvement, the project was awarded $500,000 for planning and development from the Corridor Identification and Development Program, created after the passing of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
“We wholeheartedly support the bilateral emphasis on this transformative project, which would connect Dallas and Houston, Texas, with high-speed rail,” Andy Byford, Amtrak’s senior vice president of high-speed rail development, wrote in a statement about the news. “Amtrak will continue progressing design and project development activities as part of the FRA’s [Federal Railroad Administration’s] Corridor Identification and Development Program.”
The Texas Central plan aims to utilize bullet train technology based on the shinkansen system that would travel largely along high-voltage transmission lines, with a stop in the Brazos Valley, between College Station and Huntsville.
Japan’s own government has placed funding in the project. In 2018, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation signed an agreement to provide a $300 million loan to Texas Central. In a news release then, the bank said the financing “is expected to contribute to maintaining and increasing the international competitiveness of Japanese companies.”
The agreement included the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN). Over a majority of the company’s shareholders is the Japanese government, according to its website.
It’s not clear if JBIC will still be the lead investor or if JOIN will shoulder the bulk of the loan. JOIN’s investment portfolio says the company has a max investment of around $165 million (25.3 billion Japanese Yen).
In a Wednesday note to investors, Michael Bui, Texas Central’s chief executive and the senior managing director of FTI Consulting, said both the U.S. and Japanese government noted that Amtrak has reached an agreement in principle with JOIN on a transaction framework to advance the development of the project.
“The objective of the framework is to define a path forward for a joint effort between the United States and Japan to construct the project,” wrote Bui, noting that Texas Central is not yet a party to the framework and that discussions are ongoing.
Amtrak officials were not immediately able to comment on the proposed agreement. One of the biggest hurdles is the funding to make it a reality as the corridor could cost tens of billions of dollars. The timeline for the project also remains unclear.
The project does have some key victories nudging it forward. The Federal Railroad Administration approved the project in 2020 by issuing an environmental statement and a record of decision that formally selected the alignment for the corridor. The Texas Supreme Court also ruled in 2022 that the company can use eminent domain to acquire land for its bullet train.
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, wrote in a post on X that he is “glad that this project was mentioned as part of bilateral discussions, and I’ll continue working to move this forward.”
Planners in Dallas-Fort Worth ultimately hope to have a high-speed rail corridor that carries travelers on a one-seat ride from Fort Worth to Dallas and Dallas to Houston in less than two hours.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments is leading the study for the corridor between Fort Worth and Dallas, which was able to formally begin its federal environmental review phase in March. The corridor also received a half-a-million-dollar grant from the Corridor ID grant program.
Dallas city council members have raised questions about the need for the stretch connecting the two cities, with a stop in Arlington.
In a recent interview with WFAA-TV (Channel 8), Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, said the state’s geography is one of the best candidates in the country for a project like Texas Central’s.
“We’re funding some of that planning work because I think it can and should become a reality,” he said.
