Did pigs fly again? I never thought the day would come when Texas Senator Carona's
Bill 1570 passed this morning. According to Texas Legislature online, this bill requires "the facilitation, analysis, and implementation of high-speed passenger rail in this state."
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-rail_06tex.ART.State.Edition1.4abba85.html
"
A Texas high-speed rail corporation would be created to begin planning for a 200-mph rail system linking the state's five largest urban areas...seven-member board of the corporation to plan and develop the rail transit system, using federal funds for the early stages of the project and then seeking private financing for construction...Another major change from the previous effort is that the system would likely be centered on the major airports in the state..."Upon reading the bill http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB01570E.pdf , the created high speed rail entity would have to build a system meeting three decrees -
1. Serve major Texas airports
2. Connect military installations
3. Be developed in collaboration with high-speed rail
projects in other areas of the United States
Sound familiar anyone? Check out the Texas High Speed Rail Corporation's plans called the "Texas T-Bone" http://www.thsrtc.com/home_page.html
Among following existing railroad right of ways, these lines serve all major airports, the Fort Hood base, and is easily integrated with the Fed's South Central Corridor (which left Houston out of the triangle corridor mix..).
With the requirement of 200+ mph trains, I wonder if the current rail ROW is sufficient in regards to curves, grades, and topography. I know electrified rail at this speed can handle steep grades, but curvature is always an issue in with HSR in Europe and usually requires acquisition of new ROW. We saw what happened to any new ROW suggestions with the Perry's TTC plans. "Absolutely not!" was all we heard for the property rights fanatics.
Also, I'm not sure if Central Texas would scoff or welcome 200 MPH trains zipping through their communities. Possibly an express AND local service for small towns would be of help revive these ag-based economies and open up their acceptance of such a system.
Overall, this is great plan and would love to see it's implementation. The only outstanding problem I see is the lack of forsight to connect city centers. Don't get me wrong, DFW Airport is already the geographic center of the metroplex, and I don't think the City of Austin wants any more trains along Mo-Pac with the soon-t0-be commuter rail. But city center to city center is crucial for high speed rail sucess. Isn't that the point of not waiting through IAH's security and arriving footsteps from the Gun Expo and the Houston Convention Center? Unless, high speed commuter rail systems are implemented from Airports to Downtowns, I don't know whether people will opt for 1 hour flying or 2 hour railing from the same geographic location.
Hell, maybe the airlines or code-sharing will operate the rail system like Britian's Virgin...
