Texas Bullet Train will be connected with Amtrak’s routes
Posted: 9 May 2018 | Global Railway Review | 3 comments
The Texas Bullet Train will now provide a direct connection between Amtrak routes serving the two commercial hubs, helping to facilitate interstate train travel and enhancing the value of the project to travellers nationwide…
Texas Central will now offer a transfer service, connecting riders between Amtrak stations and the Bullet Train stations in Dallas and Houston, after the developers of the high-speed train forged an agreement with Amtrak.
Passengers on the high-speed train will be able to use Amtrak’s reservation system to buy their tickets, and other Amtrak services such as training, marketing and sales capabilities will be available to Texas Central.
Tim Keith, Texas Central’s President, said working with Amtrak on a commercial basis will expand opportunities to attract, assist and serve passengers on the 200mph North Texas – Houston line.
“This agreement is another important step in the progress of the Texas Bullet Train,” Tim said. “It provides travellers with more options not previously available with the intercity passenger trains in Texas.”
The Texas Bullet Train is expected to inject more than $36 billion into the state economy over the next 25 years, including more than $2.5 billion in taxes, whilst creating 10,000 direct jobs during each year of construction and boosting area development around the stations.
Stephen Gardner, Amtrak’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, said: “When Texas Central’s high-speed line begins operation, the joint ticketing arrangement will benefit Amtrak customers who currently cannot connect by train between Texas’ two largest markets.”
Texas Central and Amtrak will enable interstate and intrastate train passengers to travel between points on the Texas Central line and throughout Amtrak’s national network. This will include through ticketing, a Texas Central provided transfer service, potential coordination of travel programmes and Texas Central’s purchase of services from Amtrak, such as training, marketing and sales.
There will be many who profit from the improved connections. The easier the connection, the larger the increase in the value of real estate. Is there a system in place that returns some of those profits back to the entity that builds the connection?
Although I am a strong rail proponent, I would NEVER sign my name on an approval document for this project in it’s present form. We need to go back and look at Chicago before AMTRAK. There were four or five main stations, with bus transfers between each station. Imagine arriving at the Illinois Central station and needing to transfer to the Union Station for a train to Minneapolis. It was necessary to off-load your luggage from the incoming train, drag it to bus, load it on to the bus, off-load it at the departure station, drag it to departure train and load it on again. The simplicity of getting off one train and getting on another at the same station was NEVER possible. This arrangement existed for many years, with NO CONSIDERATION for the traveler! The railways were ONLY interested in making money! I submit that city-center rail stations and transportation centers are the way to go, where convenience for the traveling public has first priority. The Chicago situation described contributed to the downfall of passenger rail travel in the USA, along with multiple stations in many cities such as Seattle, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Columbia, Birmingham, Chattanooga, etc. Stations on the edge of the city are NOT going to cut it with the traveling public! Look at the highly successful and well used central stations in such cities as Toronto, Montreal, Washington, DC, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Zurich, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt, Berlin, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Gutenberg, Tokyo, Prague, Munich, Nurnberg, Vienna, etc., most all of which are surrounded with tram and subway connections.
I see no dates for the start of construction or the start of service. Looks pretty shaky.