Proposed Houston-To-Dallas High-Speed Rail Will Pump Hundreds Of Millions Into Local Governments
The populations of Dallas and Houston are projected to roughly double by 2035. Auto traffic between the cities will increase by 100%, pushing the four-hour journey close to six hours, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Central wants to get you there in less than 90 minutes.
Courtesy Of Texas Central
The project would move passengers from Houston to Dallas in less than 90 minutes via the N700-I Bullet Train system currently in use between Osaka and Tokyo. The Tokaido Shinkansen has been in operation since 1964, now in its fifth generation of trains. The Japan Railway Co operates 323 high-speed trains transporting nearly half a million passengers daily. Remarkably, in more than 50 years, the system has not had a single loss-of-life accident.
Courtesy Of Texas Central
Because Texas Central is a private company, its property and infrastructure is taxable, unlike tax-funded rail lines or highways. That means the company will have to pay property taxes to cities, school districts and counties for the entire length of its track between the two metropolitan areas.
When the project is completed, the railway would become the largest taxpayer in nearly every area it passes through. Texas Central expects to pay $2.5B in taxes over the next 25 years. That impact is profound: new schools, more firefighters, better roads. The influx of that much tax revenue to small towns is monumental. Texas Central would also train and outfit local emergency responders in case of an incident along the track.
