DALLAS — Preliminary engineering studies on a proposed high speed rail link between Dallas and Fort Worth will be funded by a regional planning group with surplus revenues from a system of north Texas toll roads.
The Regional Transportation Council voted last week to set aside $4.5 million of the toll revenues it receives from the North Texas Tollway Authority over the next three years for preliminary engineering and other studies on the proposed 30 to 40 mile line between the two cities. The panel last year allocated $1.4 million for initial work on the project.
The 44-member group oversees mobility planning for the North Central Texas Council of Governments in the 16-county region centered on the two cities.
The segment would be the final link in a proposed bullet train system connecting Austin, San Antonio, and Forth Worth, but trains would operate at 75 to 120 miles per hour on the stretch through the urbanized area. Unofficial estimates put the cost of the inter-city line at $4 billion.
The larger high-speed rail project would begin with about 200 miles of rail line paralleling Interstate 35 between Austin and Fort Worth with a stop at Waco. Later extensions could push the system south to San Antonio and then to the international border with Mexico, with a northern leg extending to Oklahoma City.
The Fort Worth to Dallas segment could connect on the western edge of downtown Dallas with a privately financed, $10 billion, 220-mile HSR line between Dallas and Houston proposed by Texas Central Railway.
Executives of the SNCF, the French national rail company that operates high-speed trains, said they are interested in the Dallas-Fort Worth project.
Bill Meadows, chairman of the state Commission for High-Speed Rail in the Dallas/Fort Worth Region, said data from the engineering studies would be useful in planners' ridership estimates.
"High speed rail has the potential to revolutionize the way we travel between the state's largest metropolitan areas," said Meadows. "With population growth in Dallas-Fort Worth and throughout Texas showing no signs of slowing down, innovation is necessary and will ensure the transportation system continues to provide safe, efficient service to all."
The region is expected to have 10.5 million residents in 2040, up from the current 7 million, according to the planning panel.
Most of the preliminary engineering analysis should be completed before the Texas Legislature convenes for its next 140-day biennial session in early 2017, Meadows said.
The Texas Department of Transportation is using a $15 million grant it received in 2014 from the Federal Railroad Administration to carry out an environmental impact study on the inter-city rail line that TxDOT calls the Dallas-Fort Worth Core Express Project.
The routes being investigated between the two cities include the Interstate 30 corridor and the existing rail line used by the Trinity Rail Express commuter service.
The segment would likely include a stop in Arlington, midway between Dallas and Fort Worth, which is the site of a large entertainment district that includes amusement parks and professional sports stadiums but is not served by public transit.
TxDOT said it will recommend a preferred route to the FRA when the environmental study is completed in 2017.
