Dallas-Fort Worth HSR receives initial funds
Written by David Briginshaw, Consulting Editor, International Railway JournalThe Regional Transportation Council-North-Central Texas Council of Governments (RTC-NCTCOG) has allocated $4.5 million to fund the planning, design and preliminary engineering for the construction of a high-speed rail link between Dallas and Fort Worth.
RTC-NCTCOG will set aside $1.5 million each year starting in 2016 for the project from its regional toll revenue fund. The line would follow an alignment via Arlington to the south of the existing Trinity Rail Express regional/commuter line linking Dallas and Fort Worth with DFW International Airport and could be between 30 and 40 miles long. The objective is to open the new line in 2021.
“With population growth in Dallas-Fort Worth and throughout Texas showing no signs of slowing down, innovation is necessary,” says Bill Meadows, chairman of the Commission for High Speed Rail: Dallas-Fort Worth. “With this decision, the RTC-NCTCOG has reaffirmed its commitment to high-speed rail in the region.”
The high-speed line would connect with the planned Texas Central Railway, a privately funded project to build a 240-mile high-speed line from Dallas to Houston at an estimated cost of $10 billion, and a scheme to provide a better rail link along the 850-mile corridor connecting Oklahoma City, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio and Corpus Christi.
