High Speed Rail HSR (Houston - DFW Dallas Fort Worth) (FKA Texas Central )

[electricron]

Whereas I believe one station per city should be enough; if two stations are built - I'll agree building one downtown as a "kiss & ride" and one near a freeway loop (I-635, I-610, or I-410) as a "park & ride" makes sense. The "park & ride" station locations could also be used for maintenance shops, reducing the size of the station footprints needed in more expensive downtown acreage.

[kaitoku]

I'm not familiar with the layout of Dallas (and even less with Houston), but one of the benefits of a second city station located on the suburban periphery or on the edge of the outer CBD (the aforementioned parkway or kiss n' ride station) is that it serves the auto-bound suburban dweller who may not be inclined to take public transport into a downtown area station. Also, and once again I don't know the patterns of business location in either metro area, but I reckon many businesses are located in low density suburban business parks. You need to attract business clientele to be a successful and profitable operation. In Japan, one of the functions of Shin-Yokohama Station in Kanagawa Prefecture (which was a greenfield station when built) is to serve the suburbs of the southern Kanto area, and saves passengers living in that area the time and hassle of going into Tokyo to catch a shinkansen.

[Rockingham Racer]

Most cities have lots more than one station for commuters; New York, Chicago, Boston come to mind.

[kaitoku]

Two week old article, but relevant to Texas HSR and potential customers:

Texas is tops in nation for super-commuters, with Dallas-to-Houston leading the way

Has that Frisco-to-Dallas commute got you down? Buck up, you could be headed to Houston every day for work.

Plenty of your neighbors do, according to a study released earlier this year, and touted in the Dallas Business Journal today.

In 2009, almost 52,000 residents of Dallas Fort Worth worked in Houston, the busiest long-distance commute in the country.

And plenty others come here from distant homes, too. Of the top five super-commutes among major U.S. cities, Dallas figures as a destination for two, drawing 44,300 workers from Houston each day and 32,400 from Austin.

Commuters like those coming from Houston and Austin helped make Dallas County tied for the highest percent of workers coming from distant homes in the country, 13.2 percent. The other top destination was Harris County. In all, according to 2009 figures, some 176,000 workers in Dallas County commute from from homes that are outside of the Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area, according to the study.

Beyond making you feel like a wimp for complaining about traffic on the DNT, these numbers make up the business case that proponents of high speed rail have been trying to make for years, namely that thousands of workers already travel between Dallas, Austin and Houston every day, and that many would prefer to do it on a train than on a plane.

http://transportationblog.dallasnews.co ... -way.html/

[electricron]

Most cities have lots more than one station for commuters; New York, Chicago, Boston come to mind.

For commuter and regional trains, yes. For HSR trains, no!
From Amtrak's Acela HSR train timetables......
NEW HAVEN, CT
Stamford, CT
NEW YORK, NY
NEWARK, NJ
Metropark, NJ
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Cities capitalize are visited by every Acela train, non-capitalize cities aren't.

[Jeff Smith]

News update: http://www.news-journal.com/news/local/ ... ad51d.html

A Texas company is planning to build a bullet train that would move passengers from Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston in 90 minutes. The news announced this week by Texas Central High-Speed Railway was music to Griff Hubbard’s ears. Hubbard, executive director of the East Texas Corridor Council, said the group has been working for years to get “higher-speed” rail from Longview to Dallas.

...

The Texas company aims to have bullet trains moving at 205 mph between Houston and the metroplex by 2020 without government funding. The company is backed by a group led by Central Japan Railway Co., which handles more than 100 million passengers each year on its bullet trains in Japan.

From the table:

■The N700-I Bullet, which could be in operation from Dallas to Houston by 2020, is the fastest, safest, quietest, most reliable and greenest conventional high-speed rail system available in the world today, according to Texas Central High-Speed Railway.
■Texas Central High-Speed Railway is a U.S. company associated with Central Japan Railway Co., which operates 323 high-speed trains daily between the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka transporting an average of 409,000 passengers daily.

Source: http://lshsr.com

[kaitoku]

Debate over the location of the Dallas station- local politicians want it at DFW airport, while the railway wants it in the suburbs:

DALLAS -- Mark Sullivan wonders who in the world would build a high-speed rail station in southeast Dallas.

"It's not the greatest neighborhood," said Sullivan, a salesman at an ATC Freightliner truck dealership near Interstate 20 and Bonnie View Road, not far from where Dallas bleeds into the smaller Lancaster, Hudgins and Wilmer. It's one of the few areas of Dallas that isn't built out, and though it sports a fair amount of natural greenery, it's not far from some of the city's roughest streets.

But unlikely as it may seem, this area has become a flashpoint in the Dallas-Fort Worth region's debate over where bullet trains traveling 220 mph or more ought to be allowed to pick up and drop off riders.

During two years of debate over where to build high-speed rail stations, leaders from across North Texas say, they have been led to believe that whatever plan was approved would involve construction of three -- one in downtown Dallas, one somewhere in the middle of the region (possibly Arlington or near Dallas/Fort Worth Airport) and one in downtown Fort Worth.

But officials at the Regional Transportation Council said during a recent meeting that a private team that includes Central Japan Railway -- a group that has offered to begin service from Dallas to Houston by 2020, with no public funds -- is not necessarily interested in connecting with the downtown districts. Instead, it wants to connect suburb to suburb, several officials briefed on the project say.

One option under study for high-speed rail service is a railroad track known as the Teague line, which is owned by Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway Co. and runs roughly parallel to Interstate 45 through southeast Dallas on its way to the city's downtown. The Teague line is a few miles from the area of southeast Dallas where officials plan to build a championship golf course and possibly lure the annual Byron Nelson tournament.

By connecting areas outside the population centers, the private team operating as Texas Central High Speed Railway Llc., which is collaborating with Central Japan Railway on the technology it wants to use on the line, can control parking and station-related development. Those elements help make the venture profitable, so public dollars aren't needed, RTC members said.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/04/06 ... rylink=cpy

[electricron]

I think it is important to remind everyone is that Texas Central is looking at building the Dallas to Houston HSR line for just $10 Billion. They could spend that much just entering and exiting both downtown Dallas and Houston to the suburbs, and never compete one foot of track between the two metros.

The BNSF DFW subdivision enters Dallas via Waxahachie and ends at Teague, the BNSF Houston subdvision starts at Teague enters Houston thru Tomball. The BNSF owned corridors don't proceed through either downtown, although BNSF has trackage rights through both downtowns on other railroad owned tracks.

I believe there's a good chance Texas Central wouldn't extend tracks into either city's downtown districts with their own money. They'll leave the final few miles up to both city's transit agencies. I know both COGs (regional planning organizations) have looked at building commuter rail lines to Waxahachie and Tomball in the past - and are certainly future possibilities. Possibilities that might be enhanced with HSR tracks part of the way, and HSR stations along the corridors in place.

[kaitoku]

Some speculation on the location of the Texas Central HSR line in the center portion of its route, and a possible connection with Bryan-College Station:

There has also been discussion about adding a connection to the Bryan-College Station area. With the cities’ growing population and Texas A&M University in tow, Kelly said that’s an excellent example of the type of connection they would love to make happen. He also said the possibility of stops along the Houston-Dallas route wasn’t out of the question. However, it’s going to be a numbers game in figuring out if the company can afford an exit to B-CS.

“We’re still in the process of determining whether or not the numbers are going to work from our perspective,” said Kelly, “to accomplish that connection with our financial model and what we’ve got to see in terms of a return on the investment.”

Geographically, TCR is planning the Dallas-Houston railway to run somewhat parallel to three pre-established routes. There are the courses set by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad Company on railroad tracks, such as the ones that run through North Zulch. I-45, which goes through Madisonville, is another alignment the company is considering. However, none of the three routes are exact models.

“If you’re going close to 200 mph, you want to be going pretty straight,” said Kelly. “None of those three are going to be a perfect fit, but we’re looking to take advantage of those rights of way as much as possible.”

Also some interesting information about environmental impacts in the remainder of the article:
http://www.madisonvillemeteor.com/news/ ... f887a.html

[kaitoku]

Some more info about station locations.

It’s been just over a year since a Japanese-backed firm announced plans to build a 205 mph bullet train between Houston and North Texas, and elected officials and advocates are anxiously waiting for more details.

That’s especially true in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where the region’s decades-old turf war has been reignited by the prospects of where Texas Central High-Speed Railway plans to build its first North Texas station.

That local officials are focusing so much attention on a proposal that is at least six years away from implementation shows how seriously they are taking this latest plan to make passenger rail work in highway-loving Texas. While logistical, financial, and regulatory issues have stymied previous efforts, Texas Central High-Speed Railway has silenced naysayers largely through the pedigree of its lead investor, Central Japan Railway Company, which already runs profitable bullet train lines in Japan. The company has also increased interest by vowing to develop the multibillion-dollar project without public subsidies.

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2013/ju ... ort-worth/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Somewhat related, regarding land acquisition and station location in a general case for Texas HSR:

A UT Arlington civil engineering associate professor is studying the feasibility of placing a high-speed rail line within the public right of way from North Texas to Houston and San Antonio.
Stephen Mattingly, an associate professor of civil engineering, is assessing the performance constraints to safe operation and design, which affect a high-speed train's average speed and overall system cost as part of his research. The routes would roughly follow Interstate 45 between Dallas and Houston, Interstate 35 between Dallas and San Antonio, and State Highway 6 from Waco to Houston.

Another factor in project cost is where the end terminals will be placed for the high-speed rail line. Mattingly said locating a station at an airport or in an urban core probably makes the most sense.

But the cost of establishing a terminal at either of these sites will be much more expensive than the outskirts of a metropolitan area because land values in an urban core or at an airport tend to be more expensive and high-speed rail line costs increase significantly in urban areas because of the lack of right of way for an at-grade system.

complete article:
http://phys.org/news/2013-06-ut-arlingt ... texas.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kaitoku]

HSR route through Bryan-College Station seen as "less viable" due to UPRR.

Officials from Bryan, College Station and Brazos County gathered Monday to hear how to keep the Brazos Valley in the conversation for a potential high-speed rail connecting Houston to Dallas.

The potential rail is referred to as the Texas T-Bone High-Speed Rail Corridor, which would cost about $25 billion and stretch 400 miles to connect Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. There are three possible routes connecting Houston and Dallas -- one of which would come through Bryan-College Station -- so officials were urged to be vocal and active for their route to be chosen going forward.

The three lines connecting the two major metros would either go along Interstate 45, the BNSF rail line, or along the Union Pacific line through Bryan-College Station. The rail would be grade separated, elevated and bi-directional exclusively for high-speed trains, not freight trains. It would be funded privately, with no federal or state dollars.

Russell Schaffner, a senior public policy consultant for Dean International Inc., said the Union Pacific line is considered less viable since Union Pacific is "notorious for being very, very difficult for dealing with passenger rail -- they want to deal with freight."

more:
http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/arti ... 7a8b4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kaitoku]

Tom Schieffer joins Texas Central Railway HSR project:

IRVING — Former Texas Rangers baseball club President and prominent Fort Worth lawyer Tom Schieffer has agreed to join the effort to bring high-speed rail to North Texas, officials say.

Schieffer, whose résumé also includes stints as U.S. ambassador to Japan and Australia, is joining Texas Central Railway as a senior or strategic adviser, several people attending the Texas Transportation and Infrastructure Summit in Irving said Wednesday.

Texas Central Railway is a company formed to build a proposed high-speed rail line from North Texas to Houston. The group is collaborating with Central Japan Railway to bring trains capable of going 220 mph to the region by 2021.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/07 ... -with.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kaitoku]

Bryan Council Asked To Support High Speed Rail

Supporters of high speed rail through Bryan/College Station asked the Bryan city council Tuesday night for public support.

Matt Brasseaux, representing the state’s high speed rail lobbying organization, said vocal support was necessary as Japanese investors based in Houston are preparing to announce a direct route to and from Dallas, skipping B/CS.

http://wtaw.com/2013/09/11/bryan-counci ... peed-rail/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kaitoku]

Just talk?- Federal funding for Austin-San Antonio HSR

Officials in Austin and San Antonio are in talks with the U.S. Department of Transportation about receiving federal funding to facilitate connecting the two cities via high-speed rail, according to local and federal officials.

“I think that that concept has a lot of promise, and we just have to continue working with the local community to see how to get it in shape and see what we can do on the federal level,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/09/06/ ... peed-rail/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[electricron]

Just talk?- Federal funding for Austin-San Antonio HSR
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/09/06/ ... peed-rail/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The most important paragraph in that news article:
"The funding would go toward the Lone Star Rail District, a long-standing partnership between area public agencies to eventually build a passenger rail system between the Austin area and San Antonio on a Union Pacific freight corridor that parallels Interstate 35."

What is the Lone Star Rail District plans?
To summarize in a simplify list form:
(A) Purchase the UP rail corridor between Round Rock and southwest San Antonio from UP.
(B) UP builds a new rail corridor with the money from the sale.
(C) Operate commuter rail trains at maximum speeds of 79 mph on the now Lone Star rail corridor while allowing UP to run local and service existing freight customers.

It was not high speed rail, or even higher speed rail. Lone Star wants the Federal funds to buy the existing UP owed rail corridor - much like Michigan buying significant sections of a rail corridor to Detroit within Michigan. I suppose if Federal funds were to become available, LSRD will promise higher speed rail to be implemented eventually at some future time. But that certainly wasn't their plans the last 10 years. The project or more akin to moving most of the freight to the outskirts of Austin.