Texas Central Project

[AREJAY]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/transportation/crossroads/article/High-speed-rail-company-lauds-property-deal-10914592.php?t=dcdf81a630438d9cbb&cmpid=reddit-premium

 

Quote

The company planning high-speed rail service between Houston and Dallas announced Tuesday it has reached preliminary agreements to buy property from nearly one-third of the landowners along the planned route, including half of those in two counties where vocal opposition has been strongest.

Texas Central said they have reached option agreements with owners of about 30 percent of the necessary parcels in 10 counties. The option agreements bind property owners to selling the right of way for the train, with the company paying them now for the right to purchase the land once Texas Central has final federal approvals and the funding to build the line, estimated to cost $12 billion.

 

[BigFootsSocks]

Honestly, that's pretty impressive, all things considered with the (annoyingly) vocal minority's many Catch-22 arguments used against this. The fact that half of the Grimes/Waller county landowners have signed agreements with them is amazing too. Grimes county residents are impressively stubborn in their desire to be left tf alone.

[BigFootsSocks]

"

If you are a landowner and you are sitting in your house and someone comes to your door and says they have eminent domain, or you can sign this agreement and we’ll pay 5 percent down… are you going to use eminent domain and cross your fingers,” Leman said.

 

How can a County Judge say something like this though? That's a blatant lie, and as a member of this nation, his role is to uphold truth and justice, yet here we are seeing him spout utter nonsense like this. 

[jt16]

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3409546-Emergency-NatSec50Projects-121416-1-Reduced.html

 

TCR listed as one of 50 infrastructure projects prioritized by the admin.  Fingers crossed this thread stays clear of other politics.

[Triton]

Sounds like a hit piece and a load of BS:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2017/02/14/texas-bullet-train-could-cost-taxpayers-21-5.html

 

Quote

Texas bullet train could cost taxpayers $21.5 billion, new report concludes

 

I looked up who ran the report, the Reason Foundation. I clearly wonder the agenda that think tank has.

[Naviguessor]

I think that they meant to print "Boarder Wall". 

[BigFootsSocks]

TCR's statement on that article is savage.

 

Quote

 

Texas Central put out a statement calling the Reason Foundation report “deeply flawed and rife with uninformed biases about how Texans travel.”

 

“The report offers no original research on the Texas market, and instead relies largely on an outdated state government report that explicitly warns against using it to analyze any single corridor,” the statement says.

 

“The report’s author did not respond to our offer to review the very ‘verifiable, objective data’ that his review claims we have not yet provided. That our many calls, emails and voicemails on this matter were left unacknowledged and unreturned signals a willful disinterest by the author to produce a truly comprehensive analysis.”

Edited February 15, 2017 by BigFootsSocks

[BigFootsSocks]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/transportation/article/Texas-legislators-trying-to-put-brakes-on-10948975.ph

 

Looks like the battle is finally here in the 2017 Legislative session. Odd that quite a few of the bills are filed by representatives of districts where the HSR won't pass through.

[ADCS]

I read that Buc-ee's was funding much of the opposition to the line. Can anyone verify or debunk this?

[BigFootsSocks]

45 minutes ago, ADCS said:

I read that Buc-ee's was funding much of the opposition to the line. Can anyone verify or debunk this?

I saw that on the r/Houston post about this. Would be very interesting and would make sense, but they have so many stores among other highways that I'd be still be surprised if they were funding the opposition.

[cspwal]

I read somewhere that Southwest was a major part of the opposition to the original Texas Triangle line in the 90s.  That at least makes sense - but why would Buc-ee's object to this?  There's only one between here and Dallas, and 2 between here and College station.  Do those 3 stores generate such a lion share of revenue that they would block a train line?  I'd imagine they would still get a lot of business at those three stores even if the HSR is super successful - family trips, truckers, and moving in/out of college would all still be trafficking 290 and 45, and a bunch of people would still drive themselves instead of take the train.

 

Of course, maybe Texas Central should approach Buc-ee's and to make a deal - the midpoint station can be branded as a Buc-ee's and only incidentally be a train station.

[Sparrow]

5 hours ago, cspwal said:

I read somewhere that Southwest was a major part of the opposition to the original Texas Triangle line in the 90s.  That at least makes sense - but why would Buc-ee's object to this?  There's only one between here and Dallas, and 2 between here and College station.  Do those 3 stores generate such a lion share of revenue that they would block a train line?  I'd imagine they would still get a lot of business at those three stores even if the HSR is super successful - family trips, truckers, and moving in/out of college would all still be trafficking 290 and 45, and a bunch of people would still drive themselves instead of take the train.

 

Of course, maybe Texas Central should approach Buc-ee's and to make a deal - the midpoint station can be branded as a Buc-ee's and only incidentally be a train station.

By the time this train finally gets running we'll have self-driving cars thanks to Elon Musk's Tesla, trains that travel 700+ mph thanks to Elon Musk's hyperloop, congestion alleviation thanks to Elon Musk's The Boring Company, and frankly Houstonians could travel to Mars on one of Elon Musk's Space X rockets rather than go to Dallas anyhow--Mr. Musk is who Buc-ee's should really be scared of.

[BigFootsSocks]

I think Buc-ee's is thinking of the long term plan; when (if, I guess) this line is built it should eventually expand to other cities, which would cut into their profits? 

 

As a side note, I'd join the TAHSR group if the stations are branded by Buc-ee's tbh

[BigFootsSocks]

2 minutes ago, Sparrow said:

By the time this train finally gets running we'll have self-driving cars thanks to Elon Musk's Tesla, trains that travel 700+ mph thanks to Elon Musk's hyperloop, congestion alleviation thanks to Elon Musk's The Boring Company, and frankly Houstonians could travel to Mars on one of Elon Musk's Space X rockets rather than go to Dallas anyhow--Mr. Musk is who Buc-ee's should really be scared of.

 I wouldn't even be that mad tbh

[BigFootsSocks]

Looks like a judge issued a default summary judgement stating Texas Centra is indeed a railroad company...as if that Catch-22 argument would ever hold up.

Edited February 23, 2017 by BigFootsSocks

[cspwal]

link?

[cloud713]

On 2/22/2017 at 11:58 AM, ADCS said:

I read that Buc-ee's was funding much of the opposition to the line. Can anyone verify or debunk this?

 

I find this hard to believe... Beaver lives in the same neighborhood that my parents live in. He's not that rich.

[BeerNut]

"Irving-based Fluor Enterprises and the Lane Construction Corp. have been chosen to operate the high-speed rail line that will carry travelers between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, developer Texas Central Partners said Monday."

 

"Lane Construction is a subsidiary of the Italian construction and civil engineering company Salini Impregilo. Fluor is a multinational engineering and construction firm. " 

 

 

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/business/2017/08/14/fluor-enterprises-lane-construction-track-design-build-texas-proposed-bullet-train

[Urbannizer]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2017/08/17/texas-central-partners-inks-deal-with-city-of.html

 

The city of Houston and Texas Central Partners have confirmed the general site for the Bayou City’s passenger station for the proposed high-speed train between Houston and Dallas.

 

The city and company signed an agreement Aug. 17 to plan the economic development of the bullet train together, according to a press release.

 

The terminal will be built somewhere south of U.S. 290, west of Loop 610 and north of Interstate 10 to allow for easy access for employment centers at the Galleria, Texas Medical Center, Energy Corridor and downtown, according to the release.

 

Texas Central signed a memorandum of understanding that affirmed the terminal will have a “high level of integration with local transit systems,” including “convenient, efficient and direct access for passengers to and from local transit systems,” per the release.

 

Per the agreement, Texas Central has committed to recruiting Houston employees to construct, maintain and operate the train. The company estimates the project will create 10,000 jobs per year during the construction phase, which is expected to begin in late 2018 or early 2019 and finish in 2023.

[Sunstar]

2 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2017/08/17/texas-central-partners-inks-deal-with-city-of.html

 

 

 

 

Why so vague on the location? I thought it was going to be built at the Northwest Mall site.

[HoustonBoy]

Lets hope that a “high level of integration with local transit systems” means that it will be connected to the light rail and thus connected to downtown. 

[UtterlyUrban]

Where does that "Post oak bus thingie" connect to?  I wonder if they will build it there?  That would tie the city into the "economic development"?

[BigFootsSocks]

That will connect to the Northwest Transit Center. I assume the station location is vague because they haven't finalized the land purchase yet? Kind of an odd statement but at least we're getting closer to construction.

[tigereye]

I'm in favor of a Northwest Mall terminus as long as it also connects to MetroRail, Uptown BRT and a Park & Ride Transit Center (maybe relocate NW Transit Center here). And since this site is connected to 2 major freeways (and Katy nearby), maybe this could become our regional intermodal transit station with Amtrak & Greyhound services integrated.

 

It would also be nice if this regional intermodal transit station lead to additional mixed use development on the site too. 

Edited August 23, 2017 by tigereye

[102IAHexpress]

9 hours ago, tigereye said:

I'm in favor of a Northwest Mall terminus as long as it also connects to MetroRail, Uptown BRT and a Park & Ride Transit Center (maybe relocate NW Transit Center here). And since this site is connected to 2 major freeways (and Katy nearby), maybe this could become our regional intermodal transit station with Amtrak & Greyhound services integrated.

 

 

Amtrak is a smart play. If the developers are smart they should partner with Amtrak and have them be co-tenants of the station. Maybe even help with overall capital costs of the station. The sunset limited runs right through NW mall so it could be a major improvement over the "station" that Amtrak has on Washington street. Once you have Amtrak on board, then it will start to feel more like a hub.

[mfastx]

I agree.  It'd be much better if the site were consolidated with other transportation, like Greyhound and other buses and Amtrak.  Much better to have everything in one place.  Unfortunately, I don't think the Sunset route makes it all the way up to NW Mall.  Also it being a private endeavor would likely complicate things with Amtrak.  Maybe Greyhound can move their operations there eventually. 

[Houston19514]

11 hours ago, tigereye said:

I'm in favor of a Northwest Mall terminus as long as it also connects to MetroRail, Uptown BRT and a Park & Ride Transit Center (maybe relocate NW Transit Center here). And since this site is connected to 2 major freeways (and Katy nearby), maybe this could become our regional intermodal transit station with Amtrak & Greyhound services integrated.

 

It would also be nice if this regional intermodal transit station lead to additional mixed use development on the site too. 

 

You can count on there being mixed use development.  Real estate development at the stations is an integral part of the plan.

[cspwal]

5 minutes ago, mfastx said:

I agree.  It'd be much better if the site were consolidated with other transportation, like Greyhound and other buses and Amtrak.  Much better to have everything in one place.  Unfortunately, I don't think the Sunset route makes it all the way up to NW Mall.  Also it being a private endeavor would likely complicate things with Amtrak.  Maybe Greyhound can move their operations there eventually. 

 

The sunset limited runs up along 90A and then through the inner loop on the tracks that go past Higland village and through Memorial Park, and then it turns down the Washington ave corridor.  They could probably reroute to the NW mall location, but it would be out of the way some

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, 102IAHexpress said:

 

Amtrak is a smart play. If the developers are smart they should partner with Amtrak and have them be co-tenants of the station. Maybe even help with overall capital costs of the station. The sunset limited runs right through NW mall so it could be a major improvement over the "station" that Amtrak has on Washington street. Once you have Amtrak on board, then it will start to feel more like a hub.

 

It would be great to have a consolidated multi-modal transportation hub.  But honestly, Amtrak is pretty much irrelevant.  They run all of one train three days a week in each direction.  On those days when a train arrives in Houston, we average about 62 passengers.

[ADCS]

I'd imagine METRO replacing the NWTC with a multimodal center at NW Mall would be part and parcel of the project, a way of Texas Central reducing its buildout costs and using public funding without taking any direct subsidies.

 

And Amtrak isn't the biggest concern with creating a new station there - you'd have to be sure UPRR were on board with any interference to their trackage in the area. I'm not sure Amtrak would want, or be able to build its own passenger siding at the site.