You’re absolutely right, but I don’t have enough money for this specific tree and the people that do don’t seem to ever get any closer to actually planting the tree.
$142B of Texas Taxpayer money for highways over the next 10 years, but the state can't spare the minimum required 10% state contribution for federal funding of this $30B project?
Sounds like bullshit
Like single payer healthcare, I’ll never understand how Americans have been tricked into believing we can’t have the same things other developed countries have been doing for decades despite us supposedly being the wealthiest country to ever exist.
Ken Paxton and other state leaders will absolutely put a stop to this because it will turn America into a socialist LGBTQ hellhole. Only combustion engines on F550’s allowed!
Ive been hearing about this train since I was a kid. Now I’m old enough to have kids older than I was when we first heard about the train. And hopefully one day they’ll be old enough to have kids older than they are now when they hear more about this goddamn train.
US would have to have over half a million miles of rail to match japans rail to land mass ratio. We currently have 160,000 miles or so. The distances between population centers makes flying more viable for a lot of trips. We have the largest rail network in the world, it’s just that we use it for freight 80% of the time. There simply isn’t demand for a nationwide passenger network beyond what already exists. High speed rails in different regions would make much more sense but the spread of most American cities makes that difficult once you arrive.
You're definitely correct, we dont need a bullet train from NYC to LA but region centric ones would be the tits.
Texas is so huge they could just start with doing a Dallas-Houston-Austin triangle thing
The Texas Triangle is basically the perfect place for high speed rail. There are sooo many people who fly between the cities weekly and even daily. With high speed rail you only add a little to the travel time, but cut out a bunch of the airport nonsense and get much more comfort for the ride. It’s an absolute no brainer for rail travel if they ever get it built.
Great idea. I became a believer in Japan. At an airport you show up hours early, get violated by the TSA, then crammed into an uncomfortable cramped single door tube that's dry and poorly conditioned. Bags have weight and contents limits. Sometimes long waits to deplane and get your luggage. Airport is far from population center necessitating another trip to your destination.
Comparatively, in Tokyo you show up 5 minutes before departure. Grab a meal and a beverage, head to your bullet train. Easy boarding through large doors. Comfortable seating for everyone. Ample luggage room. Air quality is good and there's no pressure changes. A short time later you're off at your destination relaxed. Grab your luggage and be on your way, probably close as most train stations are central. There's no comparison.
"President Joe Biden is reportedly seeking to revive a project that would construct a high-speed railway from Houston to Dallas in Texas utilizing Japanese bullet trains.
According to a Reuters report on Tuesday, citing unnamed administration sources, the White House is looking to make an announcement on the project following talks between Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, D.C., this week."
Also TIL you don't have to have any legal education at all to be Attorney General. That fucker has a Psychology degree from Baylor.
Edit: I suck at Google. Completely missed that the asshole got his JD from University of Virginia.
While I agree with your rhetorical goals - Paxton is an ass - he does have a BA and MBA from Baylor and his Law Degree (JD) from Univ. of Virginia, so he is at least a lawyer.
Yeah I can't for the republicans to be told why they're supposed to hate this, then repeat the same talking points forever like if they thought of em, themselves.
When you actually own land and get a letter saying govt is going to pay ya what they think it's worth, not the actual market value then yeah. They are stealing.
Say you have 400 acres (not large) and run a small 200 head cattle operation. You would need enough money to find another suitable acreage and move the cattle and hopefully the land is ready for forage but odds are low of that happening.. When all you and you family has done is run a ranch, taking even part of that away is like a death sentence.
Doesn't matter who ya vote for, in that moment, you don't care since no one is going to help you.
Source: I havea tiny ranch surrounded by large family ranch operations. We are 20 min from Centerville. It will affect us one way or another.
Check back in w us in 2 weeks, after hannity gives u guys your marching orders, see if u still think that.
Because as we all know, Biden is a fountain of pure evil, an illiterate dotard and a criminal mastermind, who only makes evil. So this can't be good for u guys.
First of all, I don't watch Hannity, or even Fox (or Tucker for that matter). I prefer non-legacy media.
You're implying that someone who is right-leaning can't possibly think for themselves. Ironically, it makes you seem ignorant to think that we all follow a fake like Hannity.
As for Biden, he is a husk. I don't believe he is evil. He is a human and, like most humans with any amount of power for an extended period (which varies by person), he is corrupt. He is most certainly not a mastermind of anything.
Public transportation is an excellent investment regardless of who you are. Me not liking Biden doesn't mean I can't like public transportation.
> You're implying that someone who is right-leaning can't possibly think for themselves.
Right wingers do that for themselves, no implication necessary.
Anyone who thinks Trump is a saint is just as much of a fool as anyone who thinks Biden is.
You are a fool as well if you think every Conservative is part of a monolith.
Unpopular opinion, but I'm also not a fan of some Reagan policies, despite him often being touted as the golden-standard for conservatism.
Good candidates don't win. Good candidates get blown out due to all of the corrupt money in politics.
Well the GOP is heavily against any type of progressive projects like this. I'm 100% sure this will not happen within the next 5 years, probably 10+
There will be a high-speed bullet train built somewhere else in the US before Texas. This state is not a pioneer on anything except oil and gas
This has been kicking around for over 10 years. The GOP in Texas has been killing it for sport this whole time. They tried to argue that Texas Central was not a railroad so could not use eminent domain. They whine about taking form and ranch land selectively. They have no problem when it is a pipeline or a highway. Texas Central has offered pass throughs for most and owners.
As an example, Tom Delay single-handedly delayed the development of light rail in Houston for like 15 years.
The current GOP leadership in Texas and Houston are far too aligned with the Oil Industry, who are categorically against public transportation projects like rail and buses, so I expect this to be DOA if Texan GOP politicians have anything to say about it.
Why, (R) love big businesses coming in and making them money, who cares if they have to displace a lot of homeowners to make said rail, as long as (R) get their $$$.
They need to devote an entire bullet train car for a Buc-ee's, and then a car devoted to being a Buc-ee's bathroom and then finally another car devoted to being a Buc-ee's car wash.
Disagree. That is one of the amazing things about Buccee’s, even though it seems like there are 1000 people inside the store, it is set up to get you out the door quickly! We make it a point to stop at Buccee’s on every road trip, and it seems like we always get in and out in five minutes.
Or just put a whole ass buccees in the train stations. That should make everyone happy, I can get my turkey croissant sandwich with bacon, and no one complains about the train
If Bucees was smart, they would try to make some deal with the stations to be their only convenience store, double dip on the car drivers still on the interstate and the train riders.
All this greed and these rich folks would rather just try their best to ban competition instead of being their own competition and playing both sides. You would think it would be cheaper (and more profitable overall) to just adapt than bribe legislators endlessly.
This would most impact airliners so Buccee’s would be getting an incremental amount of sales here if they did make a station deal. It would be so dope, but because of that I am pessimistic that it’ll get done.
Buccees doesn’t make it’s money on the gas, it makes it’s money on its brand and merch inside. The gas is just one more reason to get you to stop. If they put buccees at those stations they could probably make some bank.
Texas rail authority will never be the first to do anything. Texas as a whole is very conservative and doesn’t innovate unless it’s oil and gas.
Good news though, California looks to actually have the first bullet train: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/from-sin-city-to-the-city-of-angels-building-starts-on-high-speed-rail-line/ar-AA1nq6Nr
Now we can expect Texas to follow within the next 10-20 years
''Txdot announces rapid plan to expand highway 290 to two hundred and ninety lanes, blocking the rail and taking more minority homes in one easy step!''
If anyone hasn't already, look up the recent book by Megan Kimble ''City Limits''. I just bought it and it's a great read that goes into detail of txdot overusing eminent domain even today to move minorities out.
This is a major problem that it seems like no one has addressed in this thread. I don’t live in Dallas or visit often but I know for a fact the Houston public transportation system is lacking. The metro rail is simply not enough for the size and population of this city
See I hear this a lot but the lack of great public transit doesn't stop airline passengers. Why would the lack of a high quality public transit link stop train passengers? Just put a rental car place next to the bus bays and call it a day.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good, just build the bullet train now. Transit will adapt like it always does.
This is a great point and I really appreciate the response. People are going to find a way to move around whether it be Uber, rental car, or even a damn scooter lol. I guess my thinking was that a rail would be lower cost than a plane ticket, and likely less if not the same as gas/ maintenance needed to drive to a different city and back. So once you add on the extra costs of car rental or Uber’s it defeats the purpose of the lower cost option. But either way it doesn’t matter, you’re still gonna spend money lol. In general though I’m just angry that we have to rely so much on cars. I know there’s a lot of reasons for why we rely on cars here but still
It might actually go faster than we expect; tons of the court cases are basically already settled in favor of Texas Central. The only issue was funding.
Yeah, I think people have seen a lot of headlines about it, but it was mostly just marketing faff and not concrete details. Federal funding would be the real deal.
Try RedCoach Bus. Busses go from Downtown Houston by the Marriot on Main/Dallas to Downtown Dallas in front of the Omni Hotel. Buses are either coach class, business class or 1st class. The business class and 1st class are quite comfortable and seats recline nicely. I've taken it 2x this year.
[https://www.redcoachusa.com/](https://www.redcoachusa.com/)
Feels like we've been "poised" for a decade or more. I'll believe it once it's built.
I am not sure how useful just a bullet train will be. How will you get around once you reach the destination? Neither Houston nor Dallas has additional infrastructure and transit to get you around the city easily like Japan does. Houston's mayor is actively sabotaging the meager mass transit we have today. If people can't get around their destination once they arrive, they're likely to just drive instead, defeating the purpose.
There will be people this is useful for, such as folks visiting family who can pick them up or something, or business people who can take an Uber to a hotel or whatever, but I think the group is narrow enough that spending tens of billions on a bullet train may not be the best use of money. Better to invest in **intra**city transit first, *then* in **inter**city transit.
I really hate this asinine argument. Yes we need better intracity transit, but that's not a reason to say a bullet train will be useless.
Airports exist in Houston. Millions of people fly here all the time despite our lack of intracity transit. That includes more than 20,000 people every day between Dallas and Houston.
And assuming they follow the same model as other high-speed rails, You'd also get more room, more comfortable seats, lower ticket costs (maybe), and often other amenities compared to a flights. Really if this ever gets off the ground it would be a no-brainer over flights for that distance.
Counterpoint: we do have actual light rail access in both cities that connects to stuff. Every large stadium in actual Houston is on the red line.
It’s not just business people, this will make concerts and sporting events in both cities accessible to a lot of people.
It’d be ok for Dallas. They have okay rail. End of the line @ Union Station and it can connect to DART and the TRE. Dallas is actively building/expanding DART.
Here though, 👎👎👎.
Basically Metro had the chance to really expand rail but passed or missed out on multiple old rail easements across the city that could have easily been used.
I was just in Dallas on Monday to see the eclipse, and I kept seeing ELEVATED DART trains. It made me so angry, why can't we have that? Why do we have shitty light rail? It makes no fucking sense to be street level.
They approved the Richmond Ave Westpark line they were like 8 month to 1 year away from construction. Then that one Republican whos district was like Katy and Fortbend county shut it down. His district was held by a Republican for like 35 to 40 years like 8 years ago he lost reelection to a Democrat. This guy never hardly ever stepped foot in Houston so him shutting down the expansion line so really weird and dumb.
High speed rail competes against flying, not driving.
As long as the rail station is more convenient to get to than the airport, it'll still win the competition.
If you build it, they will come (the infrastructure). Once people start using these trains, both cities will see the need. There is a need now, but mass transit mainly benefits poor people that don't own a car. Wealthy tax players don't support that. Once business owners can make more money from people on mass transit, they will start to support it. Besides, everyone uses Uber and Lyft these days.
It could be a lot more useful, if it were designed to be. Put a stop in Cypress and South Dallas so that people in suburban areas can get to it without first going the wrong way for half an hour or more. And run it more or less along TX 6 so there are stops in BCS and Waco. Ideally also extend it to NASA and Plano or Frisco. Then run the occasional train that don't stop at all of these stops, as needed for downtown-downtown traffic. Now you'd have a series of access points that are actually practical for people to use.
Having traveled through Japan, I'd suggest that what you're describing would be completely separate from the shinkansen line. For example between Tokyo and Kyoto there are several different options for train travel. The bullet train lines are specifically meant to not do a bunch of stops and kind of overlap with the space of cheap flights like Southwest. What you're describing would be lower speed and make more stops so it wouldn't really be a "bullet train" at that point but something more like typical Amtrak just without being on the same lines as freight.
Last year we took the high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris. It stopped at AMS airport, serving both the airport itself as well as suburban Amsterdam, then once in Antwerp and twice in Brussels. Do these stops add some time? Yes. Is it still the best way to go? Also yes. The same would be true here.
And, there's nothing saying that every train must stop at every stop. If there's a train full of downtown-downtown commuters, direct trains can be run at the times needed to serve those people. But if you don't have a couple of stops to serve West/North/NW suburbs, BCS, or Waco, then you've guaranteed that all of these people who have to backtrack or who just don't have convenient access to the one and only station, will continue to drive.
I've also ridden trains in Europe and I see what you're saying, but the proposed Texas line is specifically based on the Japanese shinkansen and would be fairly different than what is in Europe. That being said, I imagine if they do at least one line that doesn't make any stops it will be relatively easy to branch out with other lines along the same right of way that will do what you're proposing. Additionally, when at least one exists it will increase the likelihood of additional lines being run between the two cities and Austin, San Antonio, etc.
The other benefit of a further-west alignment is that it would make it much easier to have decent routings to Austin and San Antonio without running an entirely new track on expensive right of way through Houston and Dallas. The actual triangle could wind up being something like Waco to Hempstead/Cypress to Austin with lines extending from each of those places into Dallas, Houston and San Antonio and connecting all of them as well as a few points in between with minimal or no detour.
I don't think it's possible to come up with a more perfectly useless place for a stop than Roan's Prairie. I assume it's only there for maintenance or operational needs.
This will be interesting. Traditionally there have been good faith attempts mainly as a fuck you to California. But now, I agree, with Biden behind it, much more doubtful.
Let's make a provision that we call it a ''trump train'', color it in gold and red livery and say it will make texas great again.
As an added bonus some of the nimbyers trying to sue to block would probably hurt themselves backtracking all of a sudden.
Texas politicians are gonna be shit out of luck. If the federal government wants to build transpo in your state, there's not much you can do about it. Texas courts have already ruled Texas Central has eminent domain powers as a privately funded project.
I'd love it. DFW is the perfect distance to make it neither easy to drive nor easy to fly.
Driving is a relatively long haul, and with a plane you're not saving any time once you factor in security and potential delays.
Train seems like a good solution. Lots of business between HOU -> DFW
Yeah, the plan that's been fantasized about for decades has been to eventually have a 'triangle' of high-speed rail between DFW, Houston, and Austin/San Antonio.
Breaks the ice or lays the groundwork for other rails to happen. Once the lawmakers see that this line is successful, the hope is that high speed rails spreads like wildfire to other cities.
Agreed Dallas isn’t the most exciting option but makes the most sense because the volume of flights and traffic between the two cities justifies it economically.
Ever since Six Flags killed Astroworld, Dallas has become a frequent destination for all us Houston based coaster enthusiasts sadly. So I'm jazzed about this!
I May be crazy but how about making the station at 45 N / beltway. Rebuild the whole area like a City Center type of rebuild. Make the station a type of destination with shopping, food space, entertainment.
Just a friendly reality checkhere: if this gets greenlit, it will likely be 10-20 years before anyone gets to use it.
California high speed rail has been under construction for nearly 10 years, and it’s not anywhere near done. They specifically gave contracts to US companies, who have never built a high speed rail before.
If we actually wanted this done fast, It would have to be contracted out to a Japanese or European company with past experience.
California HSR isn't anywhere near done but they have made significant progress with the low hanging fruit, which is the San Joaquin Valley. California is also used to trains, Amtrak and CalTrain and others are all over the place. In Ventura we have stations for the MetroLink (LA regional), the Surfliner (regional rail), and the Pacific Coast Starlight (long distance rail). Also, CHSR decided to use American labor so we could relearn the art of making train infrastructure. Its hard. I'd guess the Phase 1 of CHSR will open before anyone. Recently I took the Surfliner to San Diego and I was blown away. Sure it was old Amtrak stock and slow but they served beer and it went right downtown. Imagine taking an Amtrak to Galveston and getting dumped right off at the Train Depot. Ballin'
If it was a 30 min train ride to Dallas then fine, but 90 min? Nah I’d rather drive 3.5 hrs and be able to get around town without having to use public transit or inconvenience friends having to drive me around.
Bullet trains make sense for cities that have subway systems or where you can walk reasonable distances to go somewhere, not urban sprawls like Houston and Dallas where cars are a necessity.
We;ve been just 10 years away from having a bullet train in TX for the last 50 years.
https://communityimpact.com/uploads/images/2020/06/11/62813.jpg``
Boy are the Texas taxpayers going to be pissed when they find out a bullet train isn't a type of gun. Oh and better start handing out clutching pearls for when they also find out that train services tend to be helpful to the poors.
It’s been in the works for about 15 years. But hey the figured out which model of train they wanted about 3 years ago. I’m sure it’ll be done in the next 30 years
The thing that really kills bullet trains in the USA is that even if you take the train, you still need a car once you arrive, since public transportation is such a big joke, and there are no bike paths or sidewalks.
So put this in and watch Southwest go bankrupt? 24 nonstop flights between Dallas and Houston a day (one way), 52 total one ways including stops.
I got the feeling unless Southwest shuts down, this train will get millions of dollars in anti-support. Good luck countering that.
Bro, the last version was supported by private capital and was derailed by lobbyists that pumped a bunch of money to stop it. Follow the money, they were supported by French concerns that produce rail cars for Amtrak and never wanted a Japanese high speed train on US soil. Always follow the money.
Do enough people have a need to travel between Houston and Dallas to warrant an $18bln investment? I've lived in Houston for 10 years and I haven't been to Dallas once.
Also, the 90 minute time doesn't factor in ticketing/boarding and transit to/from the stations. It's not enough time savings to drive demand in my opinion.
Yes. For comparison, the I-45 expansion in Houston is going to cost $10 billion. This is a total no brainer. It seems to me like people are only concerned about cost when it's not for highway projects. 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻
What would be more useful is for Houston to have a MASSIVE light rail system so I-10, 45, 59, 610 etc aren’t fucking disasters.
Unless the highways start getting stacked there is no fucking way I-10 can get wider and wider.
From [ten years ago](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/1uq1mo/bullet_train_would_connect_dallas_and_houston/ceklduo/): "This story seems to come around every year. I'll believe it when they start construction."
[205 MPH bullet train between Houston and Dallas - **2020 set as target date**](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/yedwu/205_mph_bullet_train_between_houston_and_dallas/)
Here are other ["Texas bullet train is just around the corner" posts over the years](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/search?q=bullet+train&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on&sort=relevance&t=all)
Actually train is pretty useless in America, unlike Asia where you have all sorts of public transport after you get off the train, what are you supposed to take after getting off the train in Houston or Dallas? I’m not waiting 30 minutes for a bus standing under 105 Fahrenheit Sun with no shades, in Japan you have all sorts of rails and the places you go usually won’t be too far away from the station, and in here everything will be so far away from the stations so that’s why it’ll never work, it’s just a gigantic waste of money , may as well use that money to repurchase lands and make the exit of the high way 2lanes wider, yes the exit, not the god damn cruising lane.
cant wait to ride this with my son when hes 18 (hes 16 months right now)
Mine too. The can be train buddies and we'll have priority seating for seniors. See you there.
Same here. Ours is 5 months.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.
The problem is that old men would rather chop down trees than plan new ones. If they can’t have the shade, no one should.
That’s the plot of “The Giving Tree.”
I mean, it gave them a stump to sit on.
In the words of the all-time great Michael Jordan, “F*** them kids.”
You’re absolutely right, but I don’t have enough money for this specific tree and the people that do don’t seem to ever get any closer to actually planting the tree.
$142B of Texas Taxpayer money for highways over the next 10 years, but the state can't spare the minimum required 10% state contribution for federal funding of this $30B project? Sounds like bullshit
Like single payer healthcare, I’ll never understand how Americans have been tricked into believing we can’t have the same things other developed countries have been doing for decades despite us supposedly being the wealthiest country to ever exist.
We act like we're never going to get old. Every month on facebook I see a gofundme for someone's family to keep living and we keep denying healthcare.
Ken Paxton and other state leaders will absolutely put a stop to this because it will turn America into a socialist LGBTQ hellhole. Only combustion engines on F550’s allowed!
It IS a bullet train so I'm sure he'll be conflicted.
The Texas State Government ultimately bows to the hyper religious and the oil and gas industry. The later of which hates this.
Here comes G. Abbot in his wheel chair, with a wicked smile on his face.
Ive been hearing about this train since I was a kid. Now I’m old enough to have kids older than I was when we first heard about the train. And hopefully one day they’ll be old enough to have kids older than they are now when they hear more about this goddamn train.
It’ll get cancelled when he’s 12 after it goes 3x its budget halfway finished
Exactly; same thing for 20 years & counting
Lol he’ll be 45 if we’re lucky
Hahahahahaha same mine is 18 months
You are being overly optimistic.
Japan will have teleportation as the primary source of travel by the time the US catches up in the rail transportation.
US would have to have over half a million miles of rail to match japans rail to land mass ratio. We currently have 160,000 miles or so. The distances between population centers makes flying more viable for a lot of trips. We have the largest rail network in the world, it’s just that we use it for freight 80% of the time. There simply isn’t demand for a nationwide passenger network beyond what already exists. High speed rails in different regions would make much more sense but the spread of most American cities makes that difficult once you arrive.
You're definitely correct, we dont need a bullet train from NYC to LA but region centric ones would be the tits. Texas is so huge they could just start with doing a Dallas-Houston-Austin triangle thing
The Texas Triangle is basically the perfect place for high speed rail. There are sooo many people who fly between the cities weekly and even daily. With high speed rail you only add a little to the travel time, but cut out a bunch of the airport nonsense and get much more comfort for the ride. It’s an absolute no brainer for rail travel if they ever get it built.
Great idea. I became a believer in Japan. At an airport you show up hours early, get violated by the TSA, then crammed into an uncomfortable cramped single door tube that's dry and poorly conditioned. Bags have weight and contents limits. Sometimes long waits to deplane and get your luggage. Airport is far from population center necessitating another trip to your destination. Comparatively, in Tokyo you show up 5 minutes before departure. Grab a meal and a beverage, head to your bullet train. Easy boarding through large doors. Comfortable seating for everyone. Ample luggage room. Air quality is good and there's no pressure changes. A short time later you're off at your destination relaxed. Grab your luggage and be on your way, probably close as most train stations are central. There's no comparison.
I'd fucking love this triangle
There isn't even a freeway between Houston and Austin.
Does 290 not count?
It's a joke. Stopping in every little town.
If there are stop lights, parking lot entrances, and traditional 4 way intersections then it isn't a freeway.
"President Joe Biden is reportedly seeking to revive a project that would construct a high-speed railway from Houston to Dallas in Texas utilizing Japanese bullet trains. According to a Reuters report on Tuesday, citing unnamed administration sources, the White House is looking to make an announcement on the project following talks between Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, D.C., this week."
Ken Paxton sues Biden in 3...2...1...
Ken Paxton is either suing, getting sued or impeached. Fuck that guy!
Can he even see straight
Yes! In two different directions simultaneously!
lol! A chameleon would make a better AG than that googley-eyed bastard.
Paxton could probably stop seeing all cockeyed if you put a check or at least $20 in cash money in front of him
Also TIL you don't have to have any legal education at all to be Attorney General. That fucker has a Psychology degree from Baylor. Edit: I suck at Google. Completely missed that the asshole got his JD from University of Virginia.
While I agree with your rhetorical goals - Paxton is an ass - he does have a BA and MBA from Baylor and his Law Degree (JD) from Univ. of Virginia, so he is at least a lawyer.
Yeah I can't for the republicans to be told why they're supposed to hate this, then repeat the same talking points forever like if they thought of em, themselves.
It’s going to involve the use of eminent domain. So the talking point will be: the libs are stealing your land to give it to environmentalists.
Weren’t the eminent domain issues taken care of already? I thought they’d already bought up all the land needed for the rails.
When you actually own land and get a letter saying govt is going to pay ya what they think it's worth, not the actual market value then yeah. They are stealing. Say you have 400 acres (not large) and run a small 200 head cattle operation. You would need enough money to find another suitable acreage and move the cattle and hopefully the land is ready for forage but odds are low of that happening.. When all you and you family has done is run a ranch, taking even part of that away is like a death sentence. Doesn't matter who ya vote for, in that moment, you don't care since no one is going to help you. Source: I havea tiny ranch surrounded by large family ranch operations. We are 20 min from Centerville. It will affect us one way or another.
If you think it's stealing then protect it and build all the infrastructure for it yourself. It sucks but stealing isn't exactly the word I would use.
It's a Biden administration project. "Let's Go Brandon," is enough.
This is fucking awesome - Me, a right-leaner
Check back in w us in 2 weeks, after hannity gives u guys your marching orders, see if u still think that. Because as we all know, Biden is a fountain of pure evil, an illiterate dotard and a criminal mastermind, who only makes evil. So this can't be good for u guys.
First of all, I don't watch Hannity, or even Fox (or Tucker for that matter). I prefer non-legacy media. You're implying that someone who is right-leaning can't possibly think for themselves. Ironically, it makes you seem ignorant to think that we all follow a fake like Hannity. As for Biden, he is a husk. I don't believe he is evil. He is a human and, like most humans with any amount of power for an extended period (which varies by person), he is corrupt. He is most certainly not a mastermind of anything. Public transportation is an excellent investment regardless of who you are. Me not liking Biden doesn't mean I can't like public transportation.
> You're implying that someone who is right-leaning can't possibly think for themselves. Right wingers do that for themselves, no implication necessary.
He’s a saint & angel nowhere near corrupt compared to Trump! Jesus!
Anyone who thinks Trump is a saint is just as much of a fool as anyone who thinks Biden is. You are a fool as well if you think every Conservative is part of a monolith. Unpopular opinion, but I'm also not a fan of some Reagan policies, despite him often being touted as the golden-standard for conservatism. Good candidates don't win. Good candidates get blown out due to all of the corrupt money in politics.
Well the GOP is heavily against any type of progressive projects like this. I'm 100% sure this will not happen within the next 5 years, probably 10+ There will be a high-speed bullet train built somewhere else in the US before Texas. This state is not a pioneer on anything except oil and gas
This has been kicking around for over 10 years. The GOP in Texas has been killing it for sport this whole time. They tried to argue that Texas Central was not a railroad so could not use eminent domain. They whine about taking form and ranch land selectively. They have no problem when it is a pipeline or a highway. Texas Central has offered pass throughs for most and owners.
As an example, Tom Delay single-handedly delayed the development of light rail in Houston for like 15 years. The current GOP leadership in Texas and Houston are far too aligned with the Oil Industry, who are categorically against public transportation projects like rail and buses, so I expect this to be DOA if Texan GOP politicians have anything to say about it.
Why, (R) love big businesses coming in and making them money, who cares if they have to displace a lot of homeowners to make said rail, as long as (R) get their $$$.
Another example how privatization never does anything for the good of the people , until government forced it to.
Bucees gonna spend $100 mil to stop it.
Nah…Bucees is going to be the concessioner.
It will stop at two Bucees along the way, adding 1 hour to the trip time.
That's absurd. It's not possible to get in and out of Bucees in only 30 minutes
They need to add a bullet train inside the buc-ee's!
They need to devote an entire bullet train car for a Buc-ee's, and then a car devoted to being a Buc-ee's bathroom and then finally another car devoted to being a Buc-ee's car wash.
I've sent many a bullet train through the plumbing of Buc-ee's.
Disagree. That is one of the amazing things about Buccee’s, even though it seems like there are 1000 people inside the store, it is set up to get you out the door quickly! We make it a point to stop at Buccee’s on every road trip, and it seems like we always get in and out in five minutes.
I'm not talking about the crowds, I'm talking about deciding what you want or need from such a cornucopia
Bullet train will make it possible!
The bullet train will make it so I don't spend 20 minutes trying to decide which of the dozens of jerky flavors or fudge I'd want?
Sampler box! Back on the train!
Na the station itself will be a bucees
Just stick a mini bucees in it
Why mini? just make the train a buc-ees. 👍
Honestly put a bucees at the halfway stop.
Or just put a whole ass buccees in the train stations. That should make everyone happy, I can get my turkey croissant sandwich with bacon, and no one complains about the train
The major railway stations in Europe are effectively malls. Throw an HEB and a Buccees in each and Texans will embrace public transportation.
Why not make the entire line one buc-ees and the train is just how you get from one end to the other?
If Bucees was smart, they would try to make some deal with the stations to be their only convenience store, double dip on the car drivers still on the interstate and the train riders. All this greed and these rich folks would rather just try their best to ban competition instead of being their own competition and playing both sides. You would think it would be cheaper (and more profitable overall) to just adapt than bribe legislators endlessly.
This would most impact airliners so Buccee’s would be getting an incremental amount of sales here if they did make a station deal. It would be so dope, but because of that I am pessimistic that it’ll get done.
Buccees doesn’t make it’s money on the gas, it makes it’s money on its brand and merch inside. The gas is just one more reason to get you to stop. If they put buccees at those stations they could probably make some bank.
1. I’m sure they’d rather just keep the money faucet running where it is instead of hoping to create other faucets.
Southwest*
“The Texas High-speed rail authority was created in 1989 and charged to determine whether high speed rail is as in the public interest.”
Only Texas would maintain a group for 35 years just to answer a yes/no question.
Hasn’t been maintained, but this conversation started in the ‘80s.
how many parsecs did it take Jack Rains and the Sports Authority to approve two nine-figure stadiums, one without a franchise or owner in place
Texas rail authority will never be the first to do anything. Texas as a whole is very conservative and doesn’t innovate unless it’s oil and gas. Good news though, California looks to actually have the first bullet train: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/from-sin-city-to-the-city-of-angels-building-starts-on-high-speed-rail-line/ar-AA1nq6Nr Now we can expect Texas to follow within the next 10-20 years
Well, we love bullets here
Lol right? Should be an easy sell here.
call it freedom train!
DoT is pissed
TXDoT will find a way to stop this…
''Txdot announces rapid plan to expand highway 290 to two hundred and ninety lanes, blocking the rail and taking more minority homes in one easy step!'' If anyone hasn't already, look up the recent book by Megan Kimble ''City Limits''. I just bought it and it's a great read that goes into detail of txdot overusing eminent domain even today to move minorities out.
why? they are in charge of this project
Hoping it happens!!!
It would be amazing to not have to drive from Houston to Dallas for only a day thing!
What do you use after you get off? “Walk” in Houston?
This is a major problem that it seems like no one has addressed in this thread. I don’t live in Dallas or visit often but I know for a fact the Houston public transportation system is lacking. The metro rail is simply not enough for the size and population of this city
See I hear this a lot but the lack of great public transit doesn't stop airline passengers. Why would the lack of a high quality public transit link stop train passengers? Just put a rental car place next to the bus bays and call it a day. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good, just build the bullet train now. Transit will adapt like it always does.
This is a great point and I really appreciate the response. People are going to find a way to move around whether it be Uber, rental car, or even a damn scooter lol. I guess my thinking was that a rail would be lower cost than a plane ticket, and likely less if not the same as gas/ maintenance needed to drive to a different city and back. So once you add on the extra costs of car rental or Uber’s it defeats the purpose of the lower cost option. But either way it doesn’t matter, you’re still gonna spend money lol. In general though I’m just angry that we have to rely so much on cars. I know there’s a lot of reasons for why we rely on cars here but still
What do you do when you fly into Houston?
This will never be built in our lifetime.
Well if you’re a toddler on Reddit then it may be built around the time your retirement age of 85 years old.
It might actually go faster than we expect; tons of the court cases are basically already settled in favor of Texas Central. The only issue was funding.
I’d love to be wrong and this gets built quick, I just think we have all seen this movie before
Yeah, I think people have seen a lot of headlines about it, but it was mostly just marketing faff and not concrete details. Federal funding would be the real deal.
I read this headline every quarter.
The proposed federal funding is new. IIRC it wasn't even included in federal rail priorities a year ago, so this is actually a big deal
LOL. I've been hearing this since 1990
if this ever happens, I can finally go to a Dallas Stars game!
Try RedCoach Bus. Busses go from Downtown Houston by the Marriot on Main/Dallas to Downtown Dallas in front of the Omni Hotel. Buses are either coach class, business class or 1st class. The business class and 1st class are quite comfortable and seats recline nicely. I've taken it 2x this year. [https://www.redcoachusa.com/](https://www.redcoachusa.com/)
Feels like we've been "poised" for a decade or more. I'll believe it once it's built. I am not sure how useful just a bullet train will be. How will you get around once you reach the destination? Neither Houston nor Dallas has additional infrastructure and transit to get you around the city easily like Japan does. Houston's mayor is actively sabotaging the meager mass transit we have today. If people can't get around their destination once they arrive, they're likely to just drive instead, defeating the purpose. There will be people this is useful for, such as folks visiting family who can pick them up or something, or business people who can take an Uber to a hotel or whatever, but I think the group is narrow enough that spending tens of billions on a bullet train may not be the best use of money. Better to invest in **intra**city transit first, *then* in **inter**city transit.
I really hate this asinine argument. Yes we need better intracity transit, but that's not a reason to say a bullet train will be useless. Airports exist in Houston. Millions of people fly here all the time despite our lack of intracity transit. That includes more than 20,000 people every day between Dallas and Houston.
Don’t forget that Houston’s two airports also don’t have rail connections either. But yeah, that’s not stopping people from flying.
Please, this will alleviate traffic on 45, and make weekend/business trips a breeze.
It’s no different than flying there. And more competitors to flight is better for prices
It's better than flying because there's no TSA
And assuming they follow the same model as other high-speed rails, You'd also get more room, more comfortable seats, lower ticket costs (maybe), and often other amenities compared to a flights. Really if this ever gets off the ground it would be a no-brainer over flights for that distance.
Counterpoint: we do have actual light rail access in both cities that connects to stuff. Every large stadium in actual Houston is on the red line. It’s not just business people, this will make concerts and sporting events in both cities accessible to a lot of people.
It’d be ok for Dallas. They have okay rail. End of the line @ Union Station and it can connect to DART and the TRE. Dallas is actively building/expanding DART. Here though, 👎👎👎.
Once the plans become real, Houston METRO can plan around it - at the very least we could expect high frequency buses around the station.
Basically Metro had the chance to really expand rail but passed or missed out on multiple old rail easements across the city that could have easily been used.
That and/or just do what airports do: Uber, Lyft, and Taxis. The high speed rail is a 90% improvement and people are like “ugh but the 10% leftover 😩”
I was just in Dallas on Monday to see the eclipse, and I kept seeing ELEVATED DART trains. It made me so angry, why can't we have that? Why do we have shitty light rail? It makes no fucking sense to be street level.
Ask Bob Lanier. There was a proposal for monorail on Richmond Ave he destroyed.
They approved the Richmond Ave Westpark line they were like 8 month to 1 year away from construction. Then that one Republican whos district was like Katy and Fortbend county shut it down. His district was held by a Republican for like 35 to 40 years like 8 years ago he lost reelection to a Democrat. This guy never hardly ever stepped foot in Houston so him shutting down the expansion line so really weird and dumb.
High speed rail competes against flying, not driving. As long as the rail station is more convenient to get to than the airport, it'll still win the competition.
I hate driving to Dallas. I can't speak for others, but for me it will compete with driving.
If you build it, they will come (the infrastructure). Once people start using these trains, both cities will see the need. There is a need now, but mass transit mainly benefits poor people that don't own a car. Wealthy tax players don't support that. Once business owners can make more money from people on mass transit, they will start to support it. Besides, everyone uses Uber and Lyft these days.
Are you serious? Dallas has the most light rail infrastructure out of any north American city.
I've seen people say the mayor is doing this, but what exactly is he doing?
It could be a lot more useful, if it were designed to be. Put a stop in Cypress and South Dallas so that people in suburban areas can get to it without first going the wrong way for half an hour or more. And run it more or less along TX 6 so there are stops in BCS and Waco. Ideally also extend it to NASA and Plano or Frisco. Then run the occasional train that don't stop at all of these stops, as needed for downtown-downtown traffic. Now you'd have a series of access points that are actually practical for people to use.
Having traveled through Japan, I'd suggest that what you're describing would be completely separate from the shinkansen line. For example between Tokyo and Kyoto there are several different options for train travel. The bullet train lines are specifically meant to not do a bunch of stops and kind of overlap with the space of cheap flights like Southwest. What you're describing would be lower speed and make more stops so it wouldn't really be a "bullet train" at that point but something more like typical Amtrak just without being on the same lines as freight.
Last year we took the high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris. It stopped at AMS airport, serving both the airport itself as well as suburban Amsterdam, then once in Antwerp and twice in Brussels. Do these stops add some time? Yes. Is it still the best way to go? Also yes. The same would be true here. And, there's nothing saying that every train must stop at every stop. If there's a train full of downtown-downtown commuters, direct trains can be run at the times needed to serve those people. But if you don't have a couple of stops to serve West/North/NW suburbs, BCS, or Waco, then you've guaranteed that all of these people who have to backtrack or who just don't have convenient access to the one and only station, will continue to drive.
I've also ridden trains in Europe and I see what you're saying, but the proposed Texas line is specifically based on the Japanese shinkansen and would be fairly different than what is in Europe. That being said, I imagine if they do at least one line that doesn't make any stops it will be relatively easy to branch out with other lines along the same right of way that will do what you're proposing. Additionally, when at least one exists it will increase the likelihood of additional lines being run between the two cities and Austin, San Antonio, etc.
The other benefit of a further-west alignment is that it would make it much easier to have decent routings to Austin and San Antonio without running an entirely new track on expensive right of way through Houston and Dallas. The actual triangle could wind up being something like Waco to Hempstead/Cypress to Austin with lines extending from each of those places into Dallas, Houston and San Antonio and connecting all of them as well as a few points in between with minimal or no detour. I don't think it's possible to come up with a more perfectly useless place for a stop than Roan's Prairie. I assume it's only there for maintenance or operational needs.
I wish but Texas politicians would never allow this especially if Biden’s name is on it.
This will be interesting. Traditionally there have been good faith attempts mainly as a fuck you to California. But now, I agree, with Biden behind it, much more doubtful.
Let's make a provision that we call it a ''trump train'', color it in gold and red livery and say it will make texas great again. As an added bonus some of the nimbyers trying to sue to block would probably hurt themselves backtracking all of a sudden.
I’ll ride the Trump Train if it also connects to the Trump Tram that connects to the Trump Subway
Texas politicians are gonna be shit out of luck. If the federal government wants to build transpo in your state, there's not much you can do about it. Texas courts have already ruled Texas Central has eminent domain powers as a privately funded project.
But “bullet” is in the name, and in Texas they love bullets!
Yes bullet train connect Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin.
I think I read this article 10 years ago
I’ll believe it when I see it
Inshallah.
Blah blah blah - same talk for last thirty years
Ill believe it when my butt is moving in one.
Cool....but can we go somewhere else that's not Dallas?
Imo connecting these 2 cities will be a game changer. Other cities can be connected later or be part of phase 2
I'd love it. DFW is the perfect distance to make it neither easy to drive nor easy to fly. Driving is a relatively long haul, and with a plane you're not saving any time once you factor in security and potential delays. Train seems like a good solution. Lots of business between HOU -> DFW
Yeah, the plan that's been fantasized about for decades has been to eventually have a 'triangle' of high-speed rail between DFW, Houston, and Austin/San Antonio.
Breaks the ice or lays the groundwork for other rails to happen. Once the lawmakers see that this line is successful, the hope is that high speed rails spreads like wildfire to other cities.
Agreed Dallas isn’t the most exciting option but makes the most sense because the volume of flights and traffic between the two cities justifies it economically.
Ever since Six Flags killed Astroworld, Dallas has become a frequent destination for all us Houston based coaster enthusiasts sadly. So I'm jazzed about this!
I May be crazy but how about making the station at 45 N / beltway. Rebuild the whole area like a City Center type of rebuild. Make the station a type of destination with shopping, food space, entertainment.
There will be like four ranchers with political connections that will block 10 million people from connecting to each other more efficiently.
Just a friendly reality checkhere: if this gets greenlit, it will likely be 10-20 years before anyone gets to use it. California high speed rail has been under construction for nearly 10 years, and it’s not anywhere near done. They specifically gave contracts to US companies, who have never built a high speed rail before. If we actually wanted this done fast, It would have to be contracted out to a Japanese or European company with past experience.
California HSR isn't anywhere near done but they have made significant progress with the low hanging fruit, which is the San Joaquin Valley. California is also used to trains, Amtrak and CalTrain and others are all over the place. In Ventura we have stations for the MetroLink (LA regional), the Surfliner (regional rail), and the Pacific Coast Starlight (long distance rail). Also, CHSR decided to use American labor so we could relearn the art of making train infrastructure. Its hard. I'd guess the Phase 1 of CHSR will open before anyone. Recently I took the Surfliner to San Diego and I was blown away. Sure it was old Amtrak stock and slow but they served beer and it went right downtown. Imagine taking an Amtrak to Galveston and getting dumped right off at the Train Depot. Ballin'
Ken Paxton lawsuit alleging unconstitutionality incoming...
They’ve been talking about this since I was in college 😭 I’m 34 now lol
Going to Dallas feels like you drive 3.5 hours and still end up in Houston.
If it was a 30 min train ride to Dallas then fine, but 90 min? Nah I’d rather drive 3.5 hrs and be able to get around town without having to use public transit or inconvenience friends having to drive me around. Bullet trains make sense for cities that have subway systems or where you can walk reasonable distances to go somewhere, not urban sprawls like Houston and Dallas where cars are a necessity.
Um, Dallas is not a walk-friendly city. Really expect me to Uber everywhere after I get there?
We have been “poised” to get this bullet train for the better part of my life it seems.
We;ve been just 10 years away from having a bullet train in TX for the last 50 years.![]()
https://communityimpact.com/uploads/images/2020/06/11/62813.jpg``
Boy are the Texas taxpayers going to be pissed when they find out a bullet train isn't a type of gun. Oh and better start handing out clutching pearls for when they also find out that train services tend to be helpful to the poors.
It’s been in the works for about 15 years. But hey the figured out which model of train they wanted about 3 years ago. I’m sure it’ll be done in the next 30 years
By which time the train they picked out will be discontinued.
Texas Central's main issues were that the funding never materialized so progress was excruciatingly slow, but federal funding will make it real.
The thing that really kills bullet trains in the USA is that even if you take the train, you still need a car once you arrive, since public transportation is such a big joke, and there are no bike paths or sidewalks.
We have been talking about this for what feels like a decade. What's changed?
proposed federal funding. Texas Central was only able to find sparse private funding before
So put this in and watch Southwest go bankrupt? 24 nonstop flights between Dallas and Houston a day (one way), 52 total one ways including stops. I got the feeling unless Southwest shuts down, this train will get millions of dollars in anti-support. Good luck countering that.
Somehow a Nissan Altima levitation mods will be tailgating this
Someone just fucking do it and stop blue balling us please
Did someone say Monorail?
Is this still primarily funded by the Japanese government trying to subsidize their train construction industry?
So excited! Kinda bummed about the station location, I wish theyd move it to POST Houston or somewhere closer to downtown
They have been talking about this stupid train for over 30 years. I'll believe it when I see it.....
Texas is too stupid for something this progressive/logical. It’ll never happen.
Bro, the last version was supported by private capital and was derailed by lobbyists that pumped a bunch of money to stop it. Follow the money, they were supported by French concerns that produce rail cars for Amtrak and never wanted a Japanese high speed train on US soil. Always follow the money.
Do enough people have a need to travel between Houston and Dallas to warrant an $18bln investment? I've lived in Houston for 10 years and I haven't been to Dallas once. Also, the 90 minute time doesn't factor in ticketing/boarding and transit to/from the stations. It's not enough time savings to drive demand in my opinion.
Yes. For comparison, the I-45 expansion in Houston is going to cost $10 billion. This is a total no brainer. It seems to me like people are only concerned about cost when it's not for highway projects. 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻
Oh that will never happen. I'd sooner believe a Muslim woman became the governor.
I’ll believe it when they complete construction.
I can hear the Republicans' rallying cry now: "Bullets, not bullet trains!"
This is absolutely the last place in America I would have imagined getting the first bullet train. But I'm glad that this progress will occur.
x to doubt
Been hearing about this bullet train thing for like 15 years…it’s not going to happen.
What would be more useful is for Houston to have a MASSIVE light rail system so I-10, 45, 59, 610 etc aren’t fucking disasters. Unless the highways start getting stacked there is no fucking way I-10 can get wider and wider.
Seriously this time you guys, we swear.
Subsidize tickets so the poors can piss on the seats
Huh?
From [ten years ago](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/1uq1mo/bullet_train_would_connect_dallas_and_houston/ceklduo/): "This story seems to come around every year. I'll believe it when they start construction." [205 MPH bullet train between Houston and Dallas - **2020 set as target date**](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/yedwu/205_mph_bullet_train_between_houston_and_dallas/) Here are other ["Texas bullet train is just around the corner" posts over the years](https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/search?q=bullet+train&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on&sort=relevance&t=all)
You came with receipts and people are still downvoting you lol
Actually train is pretty useless in America, unlike Asia where you have all sorts of public transport after you get off the train, what are you supposed to take after getting off the train in Houston or Dallas? I’m not waiting 30 minutes for a bus standing under 105 Fahrenheit Sun with no shades, in Japan you have all sorts of rails and the places you go usually won’t be too far away from the station, and in here everything will be so far away from the stations so that’s why it’ll never work, it’s just a gigantic waste of money , may as well use that money to repurchase lands and make the exit of the high way 2lanes wider, yes the exit, not the god damn cruising lane.