wilcal Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Luminare said: Its not even bold...its literally everyday business practices haha. Now if they were getting Bonds, Loans, and Taxes for this job then you bet they better reveal that and they would, but they haven't taken anything from those three thus far and so they don't have to disclose anything. Again its weird and gets into the realm of conspiracies for some because its an infrastructure job which normally is funded via the prior three stated, and so the intention by many is to ask...where where is the money you said this project needs, but its not a public project and so they don't need to disclose that info or even have that funding right away. I even mentioned before that in 2015 I still thought this was a pipe dream. Now imagine what investors might have thought. I'm sure investors thought the same for private space companies in the beginning as well. Now its getting more likely this will happen by the day, and if they have everything approved and say they are ready to build then, if I had money, I would invest in something like this. This is a 6 year long job with potential for return over 25 years. That is the best possible investment in regards to real estate and construction. They just have to get there first and its clear that is their aim. The $300 mil from Japan was structured as a loan, but again, that's for planning and not construction. Whether it's a good investment is a whole different can of worms! 1 hour ago, Houston19514 said: So, it's possible that JR Central or other Japanese entities are the owners or at least partial owners of Texas Central. I'm curious how how know that JR Central is not providing any construction funding. I'm assuming that you are asking how I know that JR Central isn't the actual owner? Or providing funding? I don't know that. I was replying to Cougarpad who claimed that Texas Central had plenty of financial backing for construction and I was pointing out that there is no public proof unless I'm missing something tremendous. Cougarpad is also implying that one of the Japanese companies involved are the ones building this line and again, that isn't public info and would be news to the general public that a Japanese company is a part owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Luminare said: I'm pretty sure they do and was stipulation for the initial funding. They would be idiots if they didn't. Putting that kind of skin into the game early is risky and asking for partial ownership or ownership stakes is one way to insure the project will be successful. From my understanding, the loans are from the Japanese government and are in a similar style as the Export-Import Bank of the United States, which is primarily used to buy Boeing Airplanes. The Japanese government would like to continue to export this technology, and they use these organizational loans to make it happen: http://www.join-future.co.jp/english/our-mission/purpose.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 There's a guy in the Reddit thread that claims to be the rail system director for the project, so I asked him some questions. There's no proof of course, so take it with a grain of salt. I asked how JR Central is involved. He said: Quote JR Central are part of the Japanese consortium, they will have specific responsibility for ensuring the maintenance and operations rules are correctly used (via JRCs US subsidiary) and for the integration of the core systems , including all dynamic integrated testing, where Rail, Train and Control systems are brought together. In some ways very similar to the role they have during the construction of a new or upgraded JR line. I asked who else is in the Japanese consortium and if JRC were funding. He replied: Quote Train is by Hitachi (same as the N700s manufacturer in Japan) , we are taking the basic N700s design and modifying for the Texas environment. JRC are not funding , I'm not part of that process but I understand it's a mix of Texas investors , Banks (overseas and domestic) and other debt or equity providers. So, there might be some answers. That's more info on funding than I've ever seen reported. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, wilcal said: There's a guy in the Reddit thread that claims to be the rail system director for the project, so I asked him some questions. There's no proof of course, so take it with a grain of salt. I asked how JR Central is involved. He said: I asked who else is in the Japanese consortium and if JRC were funding. He replied: So, there might be some answers. That's more info on funding than I've ever seen reported. And the fact that they have a guy like that getting all that stuff together or working on those systems, again actually puts them closer to where they need to be than even I thought. Of course no absolute way to confirm this guy is who he says he is, but everything still checks out from the information provided thus far. Even though the stuff about financing is something new, it also isn't something that can't be done. They can absolutely get all the funding they need from those avenues. Nice digging by the way! I swear we need to start a news/reporting branch for this site. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Seen on /r/Houston: https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/texas-central-targets-financial-close-by-next-year/54617.article Quote Houston high speed project promoter Texas Central says it is optimistic of securing financial close by the end of next year, which would enable construction to begin. So that sounds good, but that also means no construction until at least the end of next year? Wasn't the final regulatory hurdle (short of the lawsuit) expected to clear in March? It was interesting to listen to the new Planet Money podcast about how there is a tremendous amount of money looking for investments out there. They explained that Germany (the nation) is currently taking in negative interest bonds because it's safer to loan them the money versus keep it locked up in a bank. Maybe it will be relatively easy to get a $20 billion investment. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CaptainJilliams Posted November 20, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted November 20, 2019 (edited) New Concept Photos Released for the High Speed Rail Stations: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Newest-Concepts-for-Texas-High-Speed-Rail-Stations-565235412.html Edited November 20, 2019 by CaptainJilliams Added Photos 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonBoy Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Looks great, I'm really hoping this come to fruition. Are there any plans to have the site connected to rapid transit? Also, is there a benefit of having the station outside of the CBD? More spread out growth, less centralized/intense gentrification, quicker access to different parts of the city? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 @HoustonBoy Are there any plans to have the site connected to rapid transit? Part of the Metro Next plan is to have BRT go from downtown to HSR station. This would be an extension from the Northwest Transit center. Also, is there a benefit of having the station outside of the CBD? Houston has large work centers outside of the CBD and population density is higher west of downtown. Also the cost to bring it downtown would be quite prohibitive. Northwest Mall is essentially dead so this would be a great re-purpose of land. TCR is in high speed rail business to leverage land purchases. More spread out growth, less centralized/intense gentrification, quicker access to different parts of the city? Yes. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllenOlenska Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Really should be not only a metrorail from downtown up Washington to this but also a metrorail to a growing downtown Heights send tweet 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Texas High-Speed Train Is ‘Shovel Ready' Quote The company must also finish acquiring land and financing. And there are ongoing legal battles with opponents of the train. But Aguilar remains confident. "I still can say we're absolutely sure it's going to happen," he said. Texas Central hopes to break ground as soon as June of next year. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Man I really hope they can make this happen. Not just for this one project, but as a proof of concept - to have the first true, world-class high speed train line in the country right here in Texas. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Wow, very cool. Reminds me of some of the rail stations I've been at in Taipei and Berlin. Glad to see Houston is going to be the leader in the country for this type of development. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 I couldn't tell from the renderings where the unicorn stables are going to be located. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 Keeping Up the Momentum for the Texas High-Speed Train Quote We are excited to announce another major accomplishment. We are pleased to share that we have signed an early works agreement with Kiewit, Mass. Electric Construction to prepare for the installation of the Texas High-Speed Train. Mass. Electric, a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, will focus on installing the core system and critical safety elements of the train. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 Still no mention of The Unicorn Stables contract? They have no idea what they’re even doing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted November 22, 2019 Share Posted November 22, 2019 (edited) 14 hours ago, Naviguessor said: Still no mention of The Unicorn Stables contract? They have no idea what they’re even doing. They also forgot to put the pie-in-the-sky in the renderings. duffuses... On 11/21/2019 at 10:17 AM, Triton said: Wow, very cool. Reminds me of some of the rail stations I've been at in Taipei and Berlin. Glad to see Houston is going to be the leader in the country for this type of development. Agree. Berlin in particular it reminds me of Alexanderplatz, with a dash of Hauptbahnhof, and OstKreuz. Edited November 22, 2019 by Luminare 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Pre-construction contract signed with Kiewit. Price has now jumped up to $20 billion. https://www.constructiondive.com/news/texas-central-signs-preconstruction-contract-with-kiewit-firm-for-20b-bull/568072/ 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 5 hours ago, rechlin said: Pre-construction contract signed with Kiewit. Price has now jumped up to $20 billion. https://www.constructiondive.com/news/texas-central-signs-preconstruction-contract-with-kiewit-firm-for-20b-bull/568072/ How many magic doubloons is that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 On 11/26/2019 at 1:15 PM, rechlin said: Pre-construction contract signed with Kiewit. Price has now jumped up to $20 billion. https://www.constructiondive.com/news/texas-central-signs-preconstruction-contract-with-kiewit-firm-for-20b-bull/568072/ Uber is currently valued at $50 billion, so I'm sure TCR can raise $20 billion from investors wanting to turn money into more money 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 48 minutes ago, cspwal said: Uber is currently valued at $50 billion, so I'm sure TCR can raise $20 billion from investors wanting to turn money into more money That comparison is actually even more valid when we live in a new age of tech venture capitalism. An age of Elon Musks, etc... If people are willing to throw money away, in the billons, on websites that don't actually produce something concrete, or real estate ventures that label themselves as "techy", but are just glorified landlords, then there are definitely people out there who will put bank on something that is an actual tangible concrete and physical product. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Pre-Construction work has already begun! Soil Testing, along with prepping various areas for the future berms and viaducts. TCR claims that they are ready for construction, and it seems all they are waiting for is final Federal approval. They further claim that they could start as early as June. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Texas-High-Speed-Train-is-Shovel-Ready-565182232.html 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Yep. To prepare for building my new million-dollar mansion, I mowed my lawn today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 15 hours ago, gmac said: Yep. To prepare for building my new million-dollar mansion, I mowed my lawn today. Yeah you're probably right, I'm sure sample drilling the country side is just a scaled up version of aerating your yard. Maybe they might even put up cheap inflatable Santa's since its christmas time huh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 11 minutes ago, Luminare said: Yeah you're probably right, I'm sure sample drilling the country side is just a scaled up version of aerating your yard. Maybe they might even put up cheap inflatable Santa's since its christmas time huh. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Just now, cspwal said: The Japanese ain't got nothing on that! 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geographer Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I'll believe this project will get built when I see it get built. I love the idea and want the government to allow it to be built but I'm skeptical it ever will. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 3 hours ago, Geographer said: I'll believe this project will get built when I see it get built. I love the idea and want the government to allow it to be built but I'm skeptical it ever will. They seem to be solidly on the path to getting it built. My question is can they make a long-term go of it. I'd hate to see this end up abandoned after a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) 23 minutes ago, august948 said: They seem to be solidly on the path to getting it built. My question is can they make a long-term go of it. I'd hate to see this end up abandoned after a few years. I think due to the nature of the business it's almost exclusively a long-term investment. There is nothing short term about it, so the only reason you get into something like this is to play the long game. Think SpaceX. Yeah its cool looking at their small successes, but that isn't why they are doing it. They have a long term goal, and because its a private industry they can take as long as they want, be ok with making errors, try new things, and innovate. TCR has the ability to do all of those things. Its first to market, so it has a lot of room to do a lot of different things. Unlike government which is primarily concerned with short-medium term because they are held accountable by voters who want things now, a private company is going to do whatever it takes to make sure it ensures its survival over the long haul. You don't really see a lot of billion dollar mega projects that make big risks, or unnecessary risks. As for where they are at, they are getting very close. They should be receiving their EIS and RPA's by this summer, and immediately they will start putting boots on the ground. Those Federal reviews are the only thing preventing them from digging right now. Edited February 12, 2020 by Luminare "you don't really" not "you do really" 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Hope landowners stick to their guns and don't let it happen. Or, get a billion an acre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonBoy Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Hope landowners are fairly compensated and let it happen. Or, eminent domain takes over. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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