Plans are reportedly being revived for a high-speed rail link utilizing Japanese trains running between Houston and Dallas.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14304523

President Joe Biden is reportedly seeking to revive a project that would construct a high-speed railway from Houston to Dallas in Texas utilizing Japanese bullet trains.

According to a Reuters report on Tuesday, citing unnamed administration sources, the White House is looking to make an announcement on the project following talks between Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, D.C., this week.

The Japanese government and the White House declined to comment on the report, though the project has seen renewed support from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who told KXAS in Fort Worth on Sunday: "We believe in this."

  • regul [any]
    ·
    2 months ago

    Wasn't this project initially going to be done by a private company and then it got taken to court by the farmers along the route because it intended to use eminent domain, but only railroads and the government have that power. The farmers argued that, since the company didn't run any trains, they weren't a railroad. I believe they won and the project was killed.

    Why the feds keep trying to build HSR in states with Republicans in power is beyond me. Obama tried this in Wisconsin and it crashed and burned. They won't take the money and they hate trains.

    • SpiderFarmer [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Hell, it was poised to work in Wisconsin and everything. We even had the trains paid for and then Scott Walker just... cancelled it.

      • regul [any]
        ·
        2 months ago

        That's what happened in Wisconsin, too. Scott Walker gave all the money back and the trains now run in Lagos.

        • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]M
          ·
          2 months ago

          As metro trains, I might add. Metros are great but Talgos are the wrong rolling stock. It will be the first metro in the world to run tilting trains I believe.

    • HexBroke [any, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      In January 2017, President Donald Trump's administration listed the project as a national transportation infrastructure priority

      In June 2022, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled 5–3 that Texas Central has eminent domain authority on land that is needed to build the rail line

    • EmoThugInMyPhase [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      If project fails, they can throw their hands up and say they tried and the dumb poor hicks are the reason we can’t have good things and there’s no reason to try anymore and instead buy more fighter jets

      If project succeeds, they can throw their hands up in celebration and say America does it best and our government is so good that it’s able to reach across the aisle and convince even the dumb poor hicks to get on board