Donald Trump doesn't like trains and prefers planes, Air Force One in particular. A fierce opponent of the various high-speed rail projects in the United States and in particular the Brightline West linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas in three hours by 2028, the Republican president has just cut federal funds intended to finance the preparatory work for the construction of the line. Texas Central which will connect the state's two largest cities, Dallas and Houston.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has confirmed this cut of 64 millionthe Transport Secretary, Sean Duffy, went on to say that ". this project is a waste of public money and a distraction from the core mission ofAmtrak which is to improve its existing, inferior services" . This measure is the first taken by the administration to reduce funding for a project led by the public company Amtrak. Others could follow.
Sean Duffy believes that it is up to private sector to bear the entire cost of building the Texas Central Railway if it considers the project viable. And he believes that it is up to private companies and generous donors " to continue pre-construction work rather than rely on Amtrak and the American taxpayer to bail it out" . According to the press release, the Federal Rail Administration intends to give priority in its funding to resolving the " Amtrak's major operational challenges "and more particularly along the North-East corridor whose trains are regularly delayed and whose operations are facing major deficits. In order to reduce federal spending, Sean Duffy and Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have also considered the idea of privatising Amtrak.
Fort Worth/Dallas-Houston in 1.5 hours
Having fallen well behind schedule since it was first presented in 2009, the Texas Central Railway is to connect Houston to Dallas and Fort Worth in around 90 minutes via a 385 km long high-speed rail line. The overall cost of the project has skyrocketed from 12 billion dollars at the time to 30 billion today, with the DOT even putting the figure at 40 billion dollars. More than 25% of land has already been acquired for the line, the project for which was taken over last year by Amtrak to give it a boost.
Kleinheinz Capital Partners, a Forth Worth-based company and the main investor in Texas Central, remains optimistic and considers the withdrawal of the DOT to be "a major step forward". good news for the project as a whole. We'll be proud to take it forward" . However, the Texan business sector, which is in favour of the Texas Central Railway for economic development and environmental reasons, will still have to battle against Jake Ellzey, the Texas Republican elected to the House of Representatives, who is opposed to the project. " We cannot confiscate land in Texas, destroy homes and disrupt the lives of our communities for a project that does not meet the needs of our state." he said.
