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Texas Central Project


MaxConcrete

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Get off at the NE Ttansit Center and then what?

 

A: I think having this terminate at the nw transit center is bad.

 

2: It's not like enterprise couldn't build a car rental place. have a kiosk in the train station, a small bus comes and picks you up and drops you at your car. No different than at any airport anywhere. No different than it will be with a downtown station.

 

this may not exist right this second, but if HSR uses NWTC as a terminus, you can sure as heck bet that the supporting cast will build and be online in time for HSR to open, and they'd be ready to expand to meet demand.

 

Or are you suggesting that they could finish the rail line before Enterprise could buy and pave some land into a parking lot?

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A couple of thoughts occurred to me thinking about a potential station and route location today:

 

1) Using the Hardy corridor up towards The Woodlands was likely vetoed by the HCTRA rather than the railroad because quite such a route with a terminus downtown would be highly likely to result in a commuter route piggy backing, and frankly who logically would pay $3.50 to drive their own car taking upwards of an hour one-way (plus gas and parking potentially too) when you can take the HSR commuter rail and be there in 10-15 minutes for say $10 or so.

 

2) While a Downtown station would ensure our CBD's supremacy over outlying districts for decades to come, a station in the area of NW Mall would have great opportunity for redevelopment (displacement) of the surrounding warehouses.

 

3) The further out the station is, the sooner HSR will begin service with less track to build.

 

4) A station in the area of NW Mall will no doubt force METRO's hand to build more rail lines. Uptown BRT extension is a no brainer (though conversion to LRT would make more sense). A Washington Ave line (BRT/LRT) would have to be constructed to facilitate travel to Downtown.

 

5) TCR isn't looking for government funding on this project, but if the city of Houston desired a certain location themselves in terms of planning, this would be the time to put together a 380 agreement to show "support" of a certain location/route.

 

6) Wherever they do build the station, hopefully they go big on the design creating an iconic landmark.

 

7) While obviously the Japanese folks want to sell us their existing technology, how embarrassing would it be to build a train that "only" goes 205 mph, if Elon Musk's Hyperloop experiment plays out and travels 700+ mph. Since the test track will "likely" be built in Texas, could we also utilize this HSR route if the technology comes to fruition?   

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Say whutttt... Maybe this is why we haven't heard any more of the fabled post office redevelopment? I hope they do this right and not half ass a mediocre design. Will Txdot be involved? Houston has ended up with some really nice designs from txdot engineers in the past, saving millions in design costs, while still getting signature structures like the Montrose bridges and the Fred Hartman.

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This part really got me...

"This project, like all other rail projects in the USA, will likely be a financial disaster and will negatively impact a significantly larger number of the population that it will benefit."

So a privately owned rail line will be a financial disaster? Even if that were true, who cares.. It's private money, not federal. And a rail line through rural Texas is going to negatively Impact more than 13 million people? I find that hard to believe...

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Ah, some new news. The French enter the Texas HSR mix:

 

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article8202234.html

 

This was actually what I was going to post, but thought it was also worth bring attention to an actual anti-rail group....because we need to make it look like we are nonbias here (at least for me >.> )

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dallas stations have been revealed. On mobile so I can't post but they're both downtoen; pne option is to build it across i-30(or I-35, whichever one) and have it connected to light rail, the convention, and leave room for expansion. All of it will be developed into a mixed-use transit site.

 

I got your back bud :P

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2015/02/06/texas-central-railway-picks-2-sites-for-dallas.html

 

primary*600xx1630-1087-0-63.jpg

 

alternative*600xx1630-1087-0-67.jpg

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Thanks brobeans.

Any guesses to when the Houston terminal will be revealed?

 

If it were me, I would start by trolling everyone and post the location of the mid-point station on State 30, between College Station and Huntsville, just to mess with people lol. That would be a couple weeks from now. Then maybe a few days after that give what everyone wants and release the Houston locations.

 

Being realistic I would say 2-4 weeks. The Houston location is more complicated. I guarentee that they are in talks with both The City of Houston, and TXDOT about the location here. This news is very encouraging to where they will aim for the Houston station. Notice from the quote that they wanted it to be in Downtown Dallas all along! There are a few political footballs to kick here in Houston, but they are play Texas Hold'em and going all in. I expect to see two locations with one being the post office site and the other being Hardy Yards. I mean why not. It's clear they are swinging for the fences with HSR because they know that's what you have to do. It's going to be a lot of money anyway why not go for the best possible site. That is how you do things as a private company.

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. It's clear they are swinging for the fences with HSR because they know that's what you have to do. It's going to be a lot of money anyway why not go for the best possible site. That is how you do things as a private company.

 

That would be Northwest Mall.

 

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Clown

 

Wow, that contributed significantly to the discussion. You must be really fun at parties. My opinion is at least as valid as yours (probably more valid). I've consistently favored Northwest Mall as the Houston terminus because it minimizes disruption to neighborhoods, avoids issues with running new lines through the crowded parts of town inside the Loop, and would provide a much needed boost to the area. Plus, it's trivially easy to get from Northwest Mall to the Galleria, Downtown, etc.

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Wow, that contributed significantly to the discussion. You must be really fun at parties. My opinion is at least as valid as yours (probably more valid). I've consistently favored Northwest Mall as the Houston terminus because it minimizes disruption to neighborhoods, avoids issues with running new lines through the crowded parts of town inside the Loop, and would provide a much needed boost to the area. Plus, it's trivially easy to get from Northwest Mall to the Galleria, Downtown, etc.

The only people that agree are a few neighborhoods. The vast majority would want it to go downtown.

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The only people that agree are a few neighborhoods. The vast majority would want it to go downtown.

 

As I suspected, you really could not care less about the impact on neighborhoods as long as your selfish interests are satisfied. If my sample poll is any indication, the majority want it at Northwest Mall.

 

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As I suspected, you really could not care less about the impact on neighborhoods as long as your selfish interests are satisfied. If my sample poll is any indication, the majority want it at Northwest Mall.

Are you sampling anyone outside your "neighborhoods"? Is this an official sample? Where can I see the data related to this study?
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