Texas Central or Texas Central Partners, LLC, is a private company that is proposing to build a high-speed rail line between Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. It plans to use technology based on that used by the Central Japan Railway Company and trains based on the N700S Series Shinkansen. The company has indicated that the journey time would be less than 90 minutes, with service beginning as early as 2026.
Company
Lone Star High-Speed Rail LLC was founded in 2009, changing its name to Texas Central Railway in 2012. Texas Central Partners, LLC (TCP), was founded on September 24, 2013, as the company to build and operate the service, with the rail line itself owned by the separate Texas Central Railway (TCR). Texas Central Partners is working with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and TxDOT to develop the Environmental Impact Statement required by NEPA. In July 2015 the company announced that it had secured $75 million of private funding to allow the project to move forward from feasibility studies to development planning.
On June 11, 2022, CEO Carlos Aguilar stepped down after leading Texas Central since December 2016. Since 2022, Michael Bui acts as CEO. Amtrak began working with the company to revive the project in 2023 including submitting applications to federal programs for grant funds.
Route
On August 10, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a report that supported the so-called utility corridor for the line. In December 2017, the FRA further released their draft environment impact statement for the High-Speed Rail that proposed the preferred route.
From the station in Dallas, located on the west side of The Cedars with pedestrian walkways connecting to Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the route runs on elevated tracks parallel to a BNSF Railway line leaving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The line then proceeds through Ellis, Navarro, Freestone, Limestone, Leon, and Madison counties. One intermediate station is planned for unincorporated Grimes County in order to serve the metropolitan area of Bryan–College Station and the city of Huntsville, Texas, which collectively include more than 100,000 students at Texas A&M University (the state's largest), Blinn College, and Sam Houston State University. The line then passes through Waller County before entering Harris County and the Houston area. The train line would run parallel to U.S. 290, Hempstead Highway and a Union Pacific Railroad freight line before ending at the Houston station, site of the former Northwest Mall.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown is advocating to extend the rail line from College Station to Austin, San Antonio and beyond.
Rolling stock
The line was expected to use a variation of the N700 Series Shinkansen modified for export, referred to as the N700-I. However, following the launch of the N700S in Japan, focus has shifted onto this newer model. Its modular buildup makes it easier to change the train length from the 16 cars used in Japan and it is tested for higher top speeds, removing the need to perform expensive modifications. Trains in the US will consist of eight cars and are expected to have a top speed of . Their tested speed in Japan is , but they are only allowed to operate at due to strict noise regulations, as trains pass through many urban residential areas.
Signalling
The signaling of the line is likely to be a replica of the digital ATC system used on Tokaido Shinkansen.
Construction plans and contractors
In January 2017, President Donald Trump's administration listed the project as a national transportation infrastructure priority.
In June 2017, it was stated that construction would begin in 2019 and would support 10,000 jobs during each year of the construction process and 1,500 permanent jobs once operations begin. In May 2018, Texas Central announced that global engineering firm Bechtel will work with bullet train developer Texas Central on project management. On September 13, 2018, the company earned a $300 million loan for permitting, design and engineering. The company selected Salini Impregilo and its U.S. subsidiary Lane Construction Company to lead the civil construction consortium that will build the Texas passenger line, to the top of the rails, including viaducts, embankments and drainage.
In January 2018, plans for the station in Dallas were released as the preferred location identified by the Federal Railroad Administration in their Draft Environmental Impact Statement.