DoT eyes Texas for high-speed rail

Houston Business Journal

Texas will be part of a federal program to create high-speed passenger train service, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The agency said it plans to begin accepting bids from companies that will finance, design, build, operate and maintain high-speed trains in 11 federally designated corridors, according to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.

“Americans need new ways of traveling between major cities, and a properly structured intercity passenger rail system can, and must, play a larger role in our nation’s transportation future,” Peters said in New York City. “There is growing interest in intercity passenger rail as an alternative to driving and flying but, for it to really work, it must be viable, efficient and competitive.”

The corridors, as currently designed by the Federal Rail Administration, stretch across the country, but only half — those in the eastern portion of the United States — actually connect with one another.

If initiated, Houston will be part of the 1,022-mile Gulf Coast Corridor, based out of New Orleans, La., connecting the city with Mobile, Ala; Meridian, Miss.; and Birmingham, Ala., according to the Federal Rail Administration.

The rest of Texas has its own corridor, called the South Central High-Speed Corridor, that would link Dallas-Fort Worth; Austin; San Antonio; Texarkana; Oklahoma City; Tulsa, Okla;. and Little Rock, Ark.