After years of hearing about a bullet train shuttling passengers between Dallas and Houston in 90 minutes, the public will get a chance to talk about the ambitious and controversial project.
Last month, the Federal Railroad Administration narrowed the potential paths for the train down to one likely route. Rural Texans in between the state’s two largest urban areas had been waiting to see if the train would possibly cut through their property — a point of contention in the process.
Texas Central Partners, the private company developing the project, along with representatives from the railroad administration, will present the draft publicly and allow Texans to weigh in on the proposed path in a series of 10 meetings.
The Dallas County meeting will be held Monday, Jan. 29 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Wilmer-Hutchins High School. Navarro County residents can attend a meeting on the same day at the same time at Corsicana Middle School. Ellis County’s meeting will take place at Ennis High School on Jan. 30 from 5 to 9 p.m.
If you can’t make those North Texas-based meetings, you can review the draft environmental statement that details impacts of the project and submit comments online to the Federal Railroad Administration. The public comment period has been extended to March 9.
Texas Central plans to finance the project, which is expected to cost more than $12 billion, with private investments and possibly federal loans, according to the Texas Tribune. The developer will have to purchase thousands of properties across the state to pull off the project.
The company says the train system is expected to generate $36 billion to the economy over the next 25 years, create more than 10,000 jobs per year during construction and more than 1,000 permanent positions when it's completed.
