Texas gets some HSR money

$15 million from Fla. reject

David Crossley, May 09, 11.

Texas will receive $15 million for engineering and environmental work to develop a high-speed rail corridor linking two of the largest metro areas in the US, Dallas/Fort Worth to Houston. As reported earlier, TxDOT went after some of the high speed rail funds rejected by Florida’s governor.

The grant, seen as a sign that highways alone are not enough, is not a guarantee, but the potential beginnings of a Texas high speed rail system connecting Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, South Texas and Oklahoma City according to the Houston Chronicle:

Though it could be a decade or more before Houstonians can reach North Texas on a train topping 150 mph, rail advocates say the grant of federal stimulus funds is an important acknowledgment that the state’s congested highways alone cannot accommodate Texas’ growth.

“This is really big news for Texas because it connects the two biggest cities, and it’s not just a study to analyze whether that corridor makes sense — this decision admits that if there is a corridor in Texas that makes sense, Houston-Dallas/Fort Worth is that corridor,” said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the former CEO of a transportation trade group.

Amtrak and rail projects in 15 states are being awarded the $2 billion that Florida lost after the governor canceled plans for high-speed train service, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday, according to a story by the Associated Press:

The largest share of the money — nearly $800 million — will be used to upgrade train speeds from 135 mph to 160 mph on critical segments of the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor, LaHood said at a news conference in New York’s Pennsylvania Station, the nation’s busiest train depot.

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Another $404 million will go to expand high-speed rail service in the Midwest, including newly constructed segments of 110-mph track between Detroit and Chicago that are expected to save passengers 30 minutes in travel time.

Nearly $340 million will go toward state-of-the-art locomotives and rail cars for California and the Midwest. California will also get another $300 million toward trains that will travel up to 220 mph between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“These projects will put thousands of Americans to work, save hundreds of thousands of hours for American travelers every year, and boost U.S. manufacturing by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in next-generation, American-made locomotives and rail cars,” Vice President Joseph Biden said in a statement.

President Barack Obama has sought to make creation a national network of high-speed trains a signature project of his administration. He has said he wants to make fast trains accessible to 80 percent of Americans within 25 years.

The money — initially $2.4 billion — had been awarded to Florida for high-speed trains between Tampa and Orlando. After Gov. Rick Scott canceled the project, the Transportation Department invited other states to bid for the funds. It received 90 applications seeking a total of $10 billion.

The New York Times published an editorial criticizing states that rejected these funds:

The difference between states that want better infrastructure and those that do not is likely to grow in coming years. Some states will accept federal aid and tax themselves to pay for better trains, upgraded roads and bridges, and effective water systems. Others will not.

The Cypress Times
USDOT press release
Background: Dallas Observer
Fort Worth Star Telegram