Texas rail project poised to generate local jobs, economic benefits, choice for travelers

Texas is renowned as the land of Big Ideas. The latest example: a private sector-led high-speed railway linking two of the nation’s largest commercial hubs – North Texas and Houston. This mega-project – with on-the-ground infrastructure investment in Texas exceeding $10 billion – will generate new jobs, local community revenue, significant economic development and a safe, reliable alternative to growing transportation demands.

As developers of this private project, Texas-based Texas Central fully supports an open conversation with all parties about the high-speed train. Since the project’s announcement, Texas Central has held two dozen community meetings to hear from the public and provide updates on this innovative project.

{mosads}Crystal Wright’s Congress Blog post May 13 about Texas’ high-speed railway sorely lacks that kind of openness and integrity. First, Texas Central, the organization at the heart of the story, was never contacted and standard fact checking was not done. As a result, the piece The Hill published is riddled with errors that mischaracterize the project. 

Seeking to ensure the truth is reported, Texas Central contacted The Hill to point out the numerous mistakes, all supported by public documents, and yet no substantive changes have been made. Also, from a journalistic standard, it is clear that large sections of the article initially included content co-opted from other writers without attribution and passed off as original in the published blog post.

We documented and presented to The Hill misstatements, omissions and other erroneous material in 11 of her 14 paragraphs, and her headline. Among the points needing to be corrected:

Fact #1: As nearly every major newspaper in Texas has reported, the high-speed train will create 40,000 jobs for its four-year construction – in Texas, not Japan as the blogger stated. 

Fact #2: Texas Central will comply with all existing state laws and regulations protecting property owners. Contrary to the blogger’s assertions, Texas Central’s recent filing to the Surface Transportation Board did not request that any landowner protections be changed or removed. 

Fact #3: Texas Central, a private company, will not take taxpayer grants for construction or take any public money to subsidize its operations. And, under Texas law, it is illegal to bail out a private-sector company. Suggesting that taxpayers will be “left holding the tab” is simply false. All risk falls to the private investors in this project, not the state or taxpayers.

Fact #4: As the STB filings clearly state, Texas Central has committed to the STB that it will not take possession of any property through condemnation proceedings until the final certification of a passenger route has been approved.

Fact #5: Texas’ high-speed rail has been designed since its inception to maximize ridership, giving travelers a new transportation choice between two of the nation’s largest population and employment centers.  The blogger’s claim that Texas Central “admitted that high-speed rail in the US is unprofitable,” is wrong or it wouldn’t be being building this privately funded system.

The blogger even relies on an old report from the Reason Foundation, a think tank, in her arguments. But what she didn’t mention is that the Reason Foundation’s founder and analysts separately and more recently have applauded Texas Central’s approach.

They have said repeatedly that “opponents mistakenly claim that taxpayers will be stuck subsidizing the rail line, but this project actually provides a welcome opportunity for the private sector to deliver a fast, affordable transportation option with little or no risk to taxpayers.” 

This is only a sampling of the blog’s inaccuracies. It is disappointing The Hill didn’t subject the content to the rigorous editing standards it does of its reporters, or correct this error-filled piece when the inaccuracies were brought to the editors’ attention.

Texas Central is proud of the widespread support it has received for using a market-led approach to bring America its first true high-speed train. It is a model for how privately funded infrastructure can provide long-lasting benefits. We continue to welcome the opportunities to engage in conversations about this project and want to ensure they are factually based. 

Holly Reed is managing director, external affairs, for Texas Central Partners, developers of Texas’ high-speed rail. For more information about the project go to www.texascentral.com.