A plan for a high-speed rail linking Houston to Dallas, which was tabled years ago, is back on track.
‘It’s probably past time to get all the boys and girls in the room and get on the same page,’ Galveston County Judge James Yarbrough said. ‘So when we interface with the federal partners and elected officials, we don’t send them conflicted messages and they don’t have to get involved in local squabbles.’
Big cities in Texas should come together soon. Otherwise, Houston’s standing on a national level for stimulus funds will be jeopardized, Houston Chronicle reporter Carolyn Feibel said in an article.
Stimulus funds have the City of Galveston, the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the newly formed Gulf Coast Freight Rail District supporting the idea.
For more than a decade, the idea of a high-speed rail between large, industrial cities in Texas has been on the table.
‘ Recently, the French national railway SNCF submitted an in-depth written proposal for the Texas railway.’
Since the French know what they’re doing when it comes to railways, Texas might be wise to accept the proposal; not as is, of course, but after a bit of old-fashioned Southern haggling.
This railway could increase commerce between cities in Texas and give our economy a boost. If the French get involved, it might serve to support international trade, commerce and relations.’
The ideas are now being revisited, but the political leaders of Texas need to come together and get this project started soon.’
In a poll taken by the Houston Business Journal, 41percent of voters think the high-speed rail will finally materialize, while 56 percent still doubt it will ever happen.
Perhaps this will lead to a debate about the real issue of taxes. If we are going to have European high-speed railing along with European health care and a European flavor of subsidized housing, will we soon be adopting a European style of tax rates for citizens? Will Texans stand for it?
