Summary: Starting in September, the DFW high speed rail project will start moving more quickly. The 31-mile line, along I30, will allow travel between Fort Worth and Dallas in about twenty minutes. Stops on the line include downtown Fort Worth -- twenty miles from Willow Park.
Latest Update: 08 December 2023; posted Monday, 28 August, 2023
Tags: #AreaGrowth #Streets
Fort Worth-Dallas high-speed rail along I30 could move ahead rapidly.
Starting in September 2023, the DFW high speed rail project will start moving more quickly. The 31-mile line, along I30, will allow travel between Fort Worth and Dallas in about 20 minutes. Stops on the line include downtown Fort Worth -- twenty miles from Willow Park -- Arlington’s entertainment district and downtown Dallas.
• Texas gets $1M in federal infrastructure funding for rail service, KRLD, 08 December 2023
• Federal budget cuts could derail Amtrak’s big plan for Fort Worth passenger rail, Fort Worth Report, 15 November 2023
Texas is getting $1 million in federal infrastructure money, with some of that earmarked for high-speed rail service from Dallas to Houston.
• Fort Worth-Dallas high-speed rail could move ahead rapidly, 18 August 2023, Fort Worth Report, Excerpts
A high-speed rail line from Fort Worth to Dallas is moving “full steam ahead” and could be ready even before the proposed Dallas-Houston line that received a recent boost with the news that Amtrak is coming on board, officials said.
First proposed in 2017, the Fort Worth-Dallas high-speed rail project would run parallel to Interstate 30 and is spearheaded by the North Central Texas Council of Governments. That project will formally enter its environmental phase in September and is expected to be cleared by the federal government by 2024.
What we know so far about the Fort-Worth-Dallas high-speed rail connection: The 31-mile line will allow travel between Fort Worth and Dallas in about 20 minutes. Stops on the line include downtown Fort Worth, Arlington’s entertainment district and downtown Dallas.
Funding for the Fort Worth-Dallas high-speed rail line will either be fully privately funded or be a public-private partnership.
Once the project is environmentally cleared, the Council of Governments plans to reopen conversations with investors about getting dollars set aside for the corridor, especially now that the Dallas-Houston project is rolling again. Travel between Dallas and Houston would take less than 90 minutes.
One benefit the Fort Worth-Dallas project has compared to the Dallas-Houston project is the publicly owned right-of-way for the rail line. Since the Fort Worth-Dallas corridor will be parallel to I-30, there will be a limited need to acquire private land. In the case of the Dallas-Houston corridor, the need to purchase land to lay tracks slowed down the project by at least 10 years.
Renewed discussion for high-speed rail in Texas comes at a time when unprecedented investment in the nation’s rail infrastructure is available for grabs.