Amtrak is working to revive the Texas Central bullet train.

• In under 90 minutes, a proposed "Texas Central" bullet train would transport passengers from Houston to Dallas.
• At least $33.6 billion is the estimated cost of the project, which private investors have not yet collected.
• The Texas Central project, which had been dormant since 2022, was announced by Amtrak as plans to revive it.

Despite decades of research and studies, the US remains without authentic high-speed rail options. Since 1987, investors have attempted to introduce bullet train service to Texas. In 2014, a group organized under the name Texas Central launched the most recent attempt to connect Dallas to Houston with a bullet train that travels more than 200 miles per hour, shortening a three and a half hour drive to a 90-minute train ride. However, the Texas Central project has been repeatedly delayed as its backers navigate various regulatory hurdles, including environmental reviews and disputes over property rights.

The Texas high-speed rail project is estimated to cost at least $33.6 billion dollars, according to a March 2023 estimate from the Reason Foundation. Similar high-speed rail projects around the world have faced substantial cost overruns in development, including Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen system. The route in Texas is designed to leverage N700 cars found on the Shinkansen system. The project has received substantial support from firms in Japan and the U.S. government, including a $300 million loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation in 2018 and a Corridor ID program grant in late 2023 to study the route's potential for partnership with Amtrak. With a historic $66 billion commitment to passenger rail, the U.S. government under Biden appears to have its best bet in generations to build high-speed rail systems. However, the project and other publicly subsidized ones, such as the California project connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, remain uncertain. The California project's estimated cost skyrocketed from $33 billion to over $100 billion amid delays and pushback from rural landowners,