Travis County Judge wants Austin included in planned Houston-Dallas bullet train project

Travis County Judge Andy Brown, reacting to a Wednesday announcement by Amtrak and Texas Central that the parties are exploring a partnership to possibly advance a proposed high-speed rail project to connect Houston and Dallas, called for the Austin area to be included in the long-hyped, state-spanning proposal.

"Texans deserve fast, frequent and reliable transit," Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "Texas needs a passenger rail system that connects our largest communities – including Austin."

First unveiled in 2014, the high-speed rail project, which would connect Dallas and Houston by way of a 240-mile line snaking through mostly rural counties, was initially set to be operational by 2023 but has faced a number of delays. To date, construction has not begun on the project, which is headed by Texas Central, a private company.

Houston and Dallas leaders have long praised the project, which Texas Central says would create a 90-minute route between the cities with one stop in the Brazos Valley. In the Wednesday announcement, the mayors of both cities marked the possible partnership as a notable milestone for the project.

In his statement, Brown voiced support for the possible Dallas-Houston connection and suggested a "continuation" through Travis County could facilitate, via Dallas, travel between Austin and Fort Worth in under 90 minutes.

Texas Central did not respond to an inquiry about the possible Amtrak partnership nor questions about whether the Austin area could be included in current or future plans on Wednesday. On Texas Central's website, the company states it does not currently have plans for an Austin-San Antonio connection.

"Texas Central does not have plans to extend its line to cities beyond its proposed North Texas-to-Houston corridor. However, this project does create a backbone for possible future expansion into other cities," the website reads.

Updates on the prolonged project have slowed in recent years. Last fall, forecasting a possible legal fight, an attorney representing nearly 100 property owners in the project's path told the Texas Tribune he could file a lawsuit against Texas Central if the company does not provide more details about the project.

In his statement, Brown said he has met with stakeholders to gauge interest in a high-speed passenger rail connecting Austin to San Antonio that would continue to Mexico. That concept received board support, according to the statement.

A San Antonio-Austin connection has been studied before, as far back as 2003, according to the American-Statesman. The concept picked up steam until 2016, when the board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to remove the proposal from its long-range transportation plan. The following year, the Texas Department of Transportation reneged on its plans to study the possible environmental impacts of the proposal, according to a subsequent Federal Highway Administration filing.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis County Judge Brown wants Austin in Houston-Dallas rail project