The Last Word: Amtrak’s ‘Train Daddy’ on Leading the Charge for the Dallas-Houston Bullet Train

“This is very much a project that Amtrak is now leading.”

Andy Byford
VP of High-Speed Rail Development
Amtrak
.…on the proposed Dallas-Houston bullet train, via NBC 5 DFW.

If you’ve followed the up-and-down journey of Texas Central’s $30 billion Dallas-Houston bullet train project, you know it’s offered high-speed dreams and at times challenging headlines. You also may remember that last August we told you the project might be back on track, after Amtrak and Texas Central announced they were partnering to explore advance planning and analysis on the proposed 205 MPH high-speed rail project.

The project got new life in June 2022 when the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Texas Central, the company behind the proposed $30 billion high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, “has eminent domain authority” to seize land needed for the project.

Amtrak’s Byford—known as “Train Daddy”—recently spoke to reporters following a presentation at the Southwestern Rail Conference in Hurst, according to NBC 5 DFW, and said Amtrak “has come to a non-binding agreement with Texas Central” on the project.

Byford is a big believer in the project. “I think the alternative is to condemn Americans to ever more crowded interstates; to condemn taxpayers to ever widening of highways,” he said, according to NBC 5 DFW.

You can watch the NBC 5 DFW report by going here.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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