Plan for Dallas-Fort Worth bullet train that bypasses downtown moves ahead

An alternative route for a proposed Dallas-to-Fort Worth high-speed rail project is moving forward with engineering and environmental review after North Central Texas Council of Governments officials discussed it during a public meeting Thursday.
The council approved an additional $1.6 million last month to fund a study of the new route, which loops west of downtown. The Dallas City Council approved a resolution in July that opposed the previous alignment, which officials feared could disrupt plans for a new $3 billion convention center and other high-dollar development projects near Reunion Tower. The new route would run parallel to South Riverfront Boulevard, crossing the Jefferson Boulevard and Houston Street viaducts and a portion of Interstate 30 before reaching a federally cleared, seven-story station in the Cedars.
The rail line would carry as many as 30,000 passengers daily between Dallas and Fort Worth, making the trek in half the time as the one-hour trip via the Trinity Railway Express. Despite doubts from Dallas officials, transportation planners hope it will be the key to regional connectivity, eventually linking to a separate $30 billion Dallas-to-Houston bullet train spearheaded by Amtrak and Texas Central. It could also serve as a connection point to Austin on a future national rail network, the council discussed last month.
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“There’s a gap between Fort Worth and Dallas in the metroplex and the 30 miles in between that this study is intending to fill,” NCTCOG project manager Brendon Wheeler said Monday. “…Connecting to the Dallas-to-Houston line really provides a backbone and opportunities for high-speed rail advancement throughout the state.”
The project is part of NCTCOG’s plans to expand transportation options as the region grows.
“Our roadway corridors are not reliable, and they’ll become increasingly less reliable, as will our airports and other modes, so being able to pay for reliable service will be an increasingly important commodity between now and 2045,” Wheeler said.
Although the western alignment preempts the debate about negative impacts to high-dollar development in downtown Dallas, it also eliminates connections to points of interest like Union Station and convention center hotels. The route could cut the 31-mile rail line off from the convention center entirely, which Dallas officials have said they oppose.
Amtrak has voiced concerns about the elimination of pedestrian connections in the alternative route, Regional Transportation Council director Michael Morris said last month.
Dallas said in August it would formally request a direct connection to the convention center be included as part of the high-speed rail study. Dallas officials also hope to have the results of an economic impact study analyzing the impacts of the bullet train later this year.
Several residents also raised questions about the revised alignment Monday.
“My biggest concern as a Dallas resident is how do I access this train?” one speaker, who did not identify himself, said. “I know exactly how to access the TRE and DART. Unfortunately, I don’t see how this train connects to either of those right now, and if you’re going to move it west of those expressways, it’s even further from any connection that I will ever take to get to this thing.”
Although planners are working to move the revised alignment forward, it needs more vetting before it can be considered a probable option, Wheeler said.
“This is only a concept, this is not a final alignment. Even though you see two lines, the dark blue line is much more refined through months of engineering analysis and stakeholder coordination,” Wheeler said, referring to a graphic displaying both potential routes. “The light blue line is really just that, it’s a line.”