Fort Worth businessman John Kleinheinz is suggesting a route to federal funding for a proposed high-speed rail connection between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.
The CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners Inc., the lead investor in Texas Central Railway, wrote that a public-private partnership and diverting money initially set aside for rail projects in California to Texas.
His proposed solution in a July 22 opinion article published in The Dallas Morning News comes months after President Donald Trump’s administration revoked a nearly $64 million Federal Railroad Administration grant awarded to Amtrak in partnership with Texas Central.
On April 14, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Texas project shouldn’t rely on Amtrak and American taxpayers to fund the development. “My department will continue to look for every opportunity to save federal dollars and prioritize efficiencies,” he said.
In a statement at the time, Texas Central agreed that the “shovel-ready” project should be led by the private sector “to create significant new jobs and economic growth for Texas as part of President Trump’s efforts to boost the U.S. economy.”
Although land for the project still needs to be acquired, Kleinheinz reiterated in his commentary piece that the route is ready to begin building after a decade of preconstruction work done at no cost to taxpayers.
“The project is a model for sustainable infrastructure: It will reduce highway congestion and emissions while delivering thousands of construction and long-term operations jobs,” he said.
He urged local, state and federal leaders to work together for public-private funding for the bullet train, which is proposed to connect with Fort Worth and Arlington. Such a partnership would be similar to those used for stadiums, he added.
Kleinheinz wrote that money could come from the Jobs Act “and, of course, through continued private backing” since the rail project will rely on a user-pay model. He suggested that the funds would aid in state transit, “which makes much more sense than solely depending on taxes to further highway expansion.”
Kleinheinz wrote that California’s high-speed rail cost skyrocketed as the original 500-mile route has only resulted in a 100-mile segment that is still under construction.
“We can absolutely put the funds designated for California to better use here in the Lone Star State,” he said.
California funding
On July 14, Duffy terminated about $4 billion in unspent federal funds for California high-speed rail “boondoggle,” U.S. Department of Transportation officials said in a news release.
“After 16 years and roughly $15 billion spent, not one high-speed track has been laid by the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA),” officials said in the release. “The $135 billion projected total cost of the project could buy every San Francisco and LA resident nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the cities.”
However, on Aug. 7, the Federal Railroad Administration agreed to keep the $4 billion in reserve while California litigates the administration’s revocation of the money, E&E News by Politico reported. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to fight the move by the Trump administration.
North Texas efforts
Meanwhile, members of the Regional Transportation Council, an independent policy group of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, voted Aug. 7 to send a letter to congressional representatives asking them to oppose language in an appropriations bill that would prohibit federal funding to high-speed rail development in Texas. The bill specifically mentions the Texas Central project.
During a break in the meeting, Michael Morris, transportation director for the council of governments, said he supported Kleinheinz’s suggestion to divert high-speed rail funding to Texas.
“I’m optimistic,” he said. “I’m rooting for Mr. Kleinheinz.”
“The more ornaments on the tree when it comes to high speed rail, the better,” Morris said, adding that the funds would aid the project when it comes time to build.
A Texas Central Railway representative recently told state legislators that the route between Dallas and Houston could take about six to seven years to build.
Fort Worth, Arlington route update
The council of governments completed about 95% of the preliminary engineering and environment analysis for the Fort Worth and Arlington route to Dallas and is working with the Texas Department of Transportation to complete an integrated Interstate 30 design.
The approved station will be south of downtown Dallas, but an update provided to RTC members on Aug. 7 noted two significant projects that could aid ridership: a planned Trinity Grove high-rise development in West Dallas and the redevelopment of a jail site near downtown Dallas.
Fort Worth is planning for a downtown underground high-speed rail station near the Central Station, 1001 Jones St. Engineering consultant firm AECOM is developing a comprehensive plan that includes a tunnel from the Convention Center and the new Texas A&M law school to Central Station.
A rendering shown at the Regional Transportation Council meeting Aug. 7 suggested the underground bullet train station could be built beneath parking lots between Calhoun and Jones streets near Central Station, slightly north of the proposed tunnel.
An AECOM economic impact study initiated by cities of Fort Worth and Arlington is expected to be completed in the fall, officials said. A Dallas study showed the city would generate a $5 billion annual impact for the proposed route to Houston.
Once the Fort Worth-Arlington study is complete, Regional Transportation Council members will look at that data as well as studies by the city of Dallas and economist Ray Perryman for Dallas developer Ray Hunt’s companies to further develop the high-speed corridor.
Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
Disclosure: The Kleinheinz Family Foundation has been a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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