In case you thought that the efforts to block Texas Central from constructing the long-delayed 240-mile-long rail line that will tote people from Houston to Dallas in about 90 minutes were a thing of the past, think again.
Up in Austin, state lawmakers are once again considering legislation aimed at keeping the rail line that would be built using Japan’s Shinkansen technology from being constructed, or at least from using any local or state funds to do so.
House Bill 1402, introduced by Rep. Cody Harris (A Republican representing Palestine), proposes to amend the 2017 law prohibiting the use of state money for planning, constructing or operating a highspeed rail line run by any – i.e. Texas Central – privately owned entity. Now, in addition to all of that, if this amendment is passed, any changes that might need to be made to the roadways will not be paid for using local or state dollars.
In other words, while on the one side the Houston-to-Dallas Shinkansen project has continued to exist, to the delight of anyone in either city who fantasizes about never making that unending trek up I-45 again, the people living in the path of the bullet train line continue to remain intent on seeing it killed.
Ever since the project got rolling more than a decade ago, the people who live in the rural counties that the train line will cross have been vocal in their opposition, concerned that the rail line will bifurcate land and impact property values without giving them any benefits. (Arguably they have a point, since plans for the train have featured a proposed station at Bryan-College Station, but no other ways to hop aboard.)
Back in 2021, the opposition group, Texans Against High Speed Rail, filed a lawsuit against Texas Central, claiming that the company didn’t have the right to use eminent domain. The Texas Supreme Court ultimately found in Texas Central’s favor in June 2022, but by then the company had no board, no CEO and was essentially defunct.
But mostly dead is still slightly alive, and in 2023 the project caught the eye of Amtrak officials, who brought it back to life. The folks at Amtrak are still working to see if the project is viable, having issued a “delivery partner” for the Houston-to-Dallas line back in February.
And thus there’s now HB 1402, to try and further ensure that – if it ever gets built – local and state funds won’t be any part of it.
In a hearing on the bill held last week, Waller County Judge Trey Duhon, who is also president of Texans Against High Speed Rail, talked up the measure as a bit of legislation that would “protect state money and ensure that public funds throughout the state are safeguarded from being wasted on a washed-up, overhyped, underfunded, bait-and-switch, high-speed rail project.”
Meanwhile, Andy Jent, who attended the hearing to represent Texas Central CEO John Kleinheinz, insisted that the company isn’t aiming to get hold of taxpayer money, but he didn’t get into the particulars other than acknowledging that they don’t have all of the financing yet and have only acquired about 25 percent of the parcels of land needed for the project. “We’re not asking the taxpayers to pay for this project right now,” Jent stated during the hearing. “What we’re saying is we have to ultimately partner with the State of Texas and with TxDOT to figure this out.”
That lack of specifics didn’t go over so well with state lawmakers.
On Thursday, Rep. Cody Harris introduced HB 2003, which would require any highspeed rail operators to disclose certain information – including costs, financing, and organization – before applying for permits with the Texas Department of Transportation.
It didn’t stop there.
Frustrated that Texas Central officials in attendance weren’t, in the view of the members of the House Transportation Committee, forthcoming enough about everything from financing to foreign backers, the committee unanimously voted to subpoena the Texas Central officials.
Meanwhile, for now both of Harris’ bills remain percolating in subcommittee. We’ll see if they stay there for long.
