Firms chosen for Houston-Dallas bullet train

[Elderberry]

NBSO-Texas  by Mariella Priem August 16, 2017

Backers of a Texas bullet train are moving to the next stop, selecting a team to build the Houston-to-Dallas line, despite not having a clear shot – yet – at construction.

Texas Central on Monday morning announced it reached agreement with Irving-based Fluor Enterprises and The Lane Construction Corporation, based in Connecticut, for further refinement and study of the proposed route. Once financing for the project, expected to cost at least $12 billion, is secured and federal approvals are obtained, the companies would then be the primary design-builders of the line.

Plans call for Japanese-style high-speed trains to make the 240 mile trip in 90 minutes, with a stop in the Brazos Valley near College Station. The station in Houston is expected to be on the site of the Northwest Mall at Loop 610 and U.S. 290, north of Uptown.

The companies, both with decades of experience in their respective engineering and construction fields, were partly chosen because of their ties to Texas projects, Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar said in a release. Both have worked on highway and mass transit projects in the state.

Lane Construction is a subsidiary of Italy’s Salini Impregilo, which has built rail systems throughout Italy, Denmark and the Middle East.

If built, the Texas line would be the nation’s first privately funded high-speed rail project. The company has said it will not use federal or state grants, though it might obtain federally supported loans open to private companies.

More: http://www.nbso-texas.com/firms-chosen-for-houston-dallas-bullet-train

[Sanguine]

Bump.

[thackney]

http://www.texascentral.com/

The Texas Bullet Train continues to attract top talent in Texas and is expected to create at least 10,000 direct jobs per year for each of the four years of construction. Once operational, the Railroad will employ approximately 1,000 highly-skilled employees in technical jobs along the entire route, with total salary expenditures expected to be nearly $80 million a year.


ECONOMIC GROWTH
This project will accelerate economic growth with BILLIONS in direct economic impact.

The Texas Bullet Train project is Investor-led with more than a $10 billion investment in Texas. The Railroad is projected to have a direct economic impact of $36 billion over its first 25 years and generate $2.5B in tax revenue. Developed with an entrepreneurial sprit, and without any federal grants or state appropriations, the Texas bullet train projects uses free market principles and data-driven decision making.

The project will generate permanent tax base revenue, benefiting the state, with a substantial, direct impact in all ten counties along the proposed route. Every taxing entity touched by the Texas Bullet Train will receive revenue – School Districts, Hospital Districts, Cities, Counties, etc…

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I wonder how many farms along the way will be seized to accommodate this train, and how many acres now contributing tax dollars to state and county coffers will suddenly become tax-free.

Those costs am sure are NOT built into the cost of this debacle.

[dfwgator]

I wonder how many farms along the way will be seized to accommodate this train, and how many acres now contributing tax dollars to state and county coffers will suddenly become tax-free.

Those costs am sure are NOT built into the cost of this debacle.

"Mongo, why would Hedley Lamarr care about where the choo-choo goes?"

[Mad Max]

I wonder how many farms along the way will be seized to accommodate this train, and how many acres now contributing tax dollars to state and county coffers will suddenly become tax-free.

Those costs am sure are NOT built into the cost of this debacle.

California's bullet train is in legal limbo right now in federal and state courts. Many farmers in the Central Valley are fighting tooth and nail over this mess the state created. The state may drop the whole project because the amount of money the state is spending in court.

[Sanguine]

I wonder how many farms along the way will be seized to accommodate this train, and how many acres now contributing tax dollars to state and county coffers will suddenly become tax-free.

Those costs am sure are NOT built into the cost of this debacle.

Exactly my concern.  I live in the path.

[thackney]

Exactly my concern.  I live in the path.

Their claim:

http://www.texascentral.com/rumors-vs-reality/land-access/

RUMOR:
 “The project will split properties in half, cut farmers and ranchers off from large portions of their land, restrict their access to water, and prevent the movement of equipment, cattle and wildlife.”

REALITY:
The high-speed train system will preserve access for landowners to their property.

A majority of the 240-miles of tracks will be elevated on viaducts. Where viaducts are not needed for elevation, the system will run on elevated berms. Both options, however, provide for large and conveniently located underpasses or overpasses.

Furthermore, as part of the overall project development processes, Texas Central and its representatives are meeting with each landowner to discuss their needs – including necessary private underpasses or overpasses for landowners to cross the right-of-way. Our commitment is to work with each landowner in a fair and personalized manner and we will take great care to accommodate wildlife and livestock movement within the project alignment.

[Sanguine]

I go to a lot of trouble to live out in the country because I like the peace and quiet and isolation. 

[thackney]

I go to a lot of trouble to live out in the country because I like the peace and quiet and isolation.

Me too, but the growth of development is not going to stop.  I'm actually counting on it for future value, so I can retire moving farther away and out of the commuting zone.  When the southwest leg of the Houston Grand Parkway finally arrives a couple miles away, the place is going to change.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Their claim:

http://www.texascentral.com/rumors-vs-reality/land-access/

RUMOR:
 “The project will split properties in half, cut farmers and ranchers off from large portions of their land, restrict their access to water, and prevent the movement of equipment, cattle and wildlife.”

REALITY:
The high-speed train system will preserve access for landowners to their property.

A majority of the 240-miles of tracks will be elevated on viaducts. Where viaducts are not needed for elevation, the system will run on elevated berms. Both options, however, provide for large and conveniently located underpasses or overpasses.

Furthermore, as part of the overall project development processes, Texas Central and its representatives are meeting with each landowner to discuss their needs – including necessary private underpasses or overpasses for landowners to cross the right-of-way. Our commitment is to work with each landowner in a fair and personalized manner and we will take great care to accommodate wildlife and livestock movement within the project alignment.

Maybe they will, but it will add a lot of money to the project.  looking at what I found on the California bullet train proposal(from a lib source too), less than 20% of it will be by viaduct, and would add billions to the project to elevate.  It will be a bait and switch here in Texas for sure.

When built, California's 800-mile bullet train project may include more than 140 miles of elevated structures - viaducts, some 60 feet in the air.
On those sky tracks, trains are supposed to hurtle along at speeds up to 220 mph.
Critics say it's urgent that this design feature be reconsidered before the state begins construction on the first segment of the line in the Central Valley. The recent rail disaster in China demonstrates the dangers of running bullet trains on viaducts at top speed, they say.
Meanwhile, the elevated structures add billions of dollars in construction costs to a project that increasingly appears seriously underfunded, even as it prepares to break ground.

"Viaducts were the (California High-Speed Rail Authority's) preferred answer to almost any alignment problem, despite known seismic and safety vulnerabilities," Richard Tolmach, president of the California Rail Foundation, wrote in a review of bullet train design issues in this month's California Rail News newsletter.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Safety-of-high-speed-rail-s-viaducts-questioned-2333719.php

[Sanguine]

Me too, but the growth of development is not going to stop.  I'm actually counting on it for future value, so I can retire moving farther away and out of the commuting zone.  When the southwest leg of the Houston Grand Parkway finally arrives a couple miles away, the place is going to change.

Yeah, well, I'm already well out of the commuting zone.  For now.

[thackney]

Maybe they will, but it will add a lot of money to the project.  looking at what I found on the California bullet train proposal(from a lib source too), less than 20% of it will be by viaduct, and would add billions to the project to elevate.  It will be a bait and switch here in Texas for sure.

I must admit I find the "majority of the length to be viaduct" hard to believe myself.  That is a lot of dollars.

[Bigun]

Their claim:

http://www.texascentral.com/rumors-vs-reality/land-access/

RUMOR:
 “The project will split properties in half, cut farmers and ranchers off from large portions of their land, restrict their access to water, and prevent the movement of equipment, cattle and wildlife.”

REALITY:
The high-speed train system will preserve access for landowners to their property.

A majority of the 240-miles of tracks will be elevated on viaducts. Where viaducts are not needed for elevation, the system will run on elevated berms. Both options, however, provide for large and conveniently located underpasses or overpasses.

Furthermore, as part of the overall project development processes, Texas Central and its representatives are meeting with each landowner to discuss their needs – including necessary private underpasses or overpasses for landowners to cross the right-of-way. Our commitment is to work with each landowner in a fair and personalized manner and we will take great care to accommodate wildlife and livestock movement within the project alignment.

Who get's to define what "conveniently located" means?

[dfwgator]

Who get's to define what "conveniently located" means?

"conveniently located" = Not near any politician's backyard.

[thackney]

"conveniently located" = Not near any politician's backyard.

They were talking about "large and conveniently located underpasses or overpasses".

So just the opposite.  If a decision maker is in the area, the access across will be close by.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I must admit I find the "majority of the length to be viaduct" hard to believe myself.  That is a lot of dollars.

and a lot of flat land too.  viaduct will be needed for the few streams/creeks/rivers it will have to cross but the proponents will have to convince investors if the thing is elevated the whole way with these kinds of dollars. 

That may be tougher than convincing the farmers to move off their land, as the company could just say the magic words 'eminent domain'.

And here it is, by the rail advocates to oppose current legislation before the legislature.  Notice they dislike almost everything.
Bills Filed in the Texas House and Senate that affect Railroads
 http://texasrailadvocates.org/2017-texas-legislature/

[thackney]

and a lot of flat land too. viaduct will be needed for the few streams/creeks/rivers it will have to cross but the proponents will have to convince investors if the thing is elevated the whole way with these kinds of dollars. 

That may be tougher than convincing the farmers to move off their land, as the company could just say the magic words 'eminent domain'.

And here it is, by the rail advocates to oppose current legislation before the legislature.  Notice they dislike almost everything.
Bills Filed in the Texas House and Senate that affect Railroads
 http://texasrailadvocates.org/2017-texas-legislature/

My expectation is that most of the viaduct will be the urban areas.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

My expectation is that most of the viaduct will be the urban areas.

Elevate about the current rail lines in places like Houston, you think?

[thackney]

Elevate about the current rail lines in places like Houston, you think?

Yes indeed.  There will be no at grade crossings.

[Elderberry]

Yes indeed.  There will be no at grade crossings.

I sure wouldn't want to cross in front of a train doing 205 mph.

As a kid, I spent a lot of time on the train trestle that crossed Sims Bayou.

I sure hope the Bullet Train's track is well fenced.