Texas Central Railway, a privately funded project aimed at bringing high-speed rail travel to the Lone Star State, hopes to revolutionize the U.S. transportation system by partnering with Central Japan Railway Co. to build a bullet train line between Dallas and Houston by 2021.
"If we could get this line built from Dallas to Houston, I think everyone in America would want the kind of high-speed rail we would have," former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and senior adviser for TCR Thomas Schieffer said in a recent interview. "It has transformed Japan and I think it can transform the United States."
The almost 400-km route will run through relatively flat land, which TCR says makes JR Tokai's N700-I shinkansen ideal for whisking passengers between the two cities in around 90 minutes at speeds up to 322 kph. The company hopes to run one train every 30 minutes and increase the frequency as demand grows.