Drayton McLane named chair of bullet train board

Texas Central Partners plans to use earthen berms and viaducts to separate high-speed trains from streets and across rural areas, as shown in their renderings in August 2017. Texas Central Partners plans to use earthen berms and viaducts to separate high-speed trains from streets and across rural areas, as shown in their renderings in August 2017. Photo: Texas Central Partners Photo: Texas Central Partners Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Drayton McLane named chair of bullet train board 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Former Astros owner Drayton McLane has traded overseeing the train that celebrates home runs for the train that could connect Houston and Dallas in less than nine innings.

Texas Central Partners, the private company behind a proposed bullet train between the two metro areas, announced Friday that McLane, an investor in the project, was named chairman of its board.

The company will use Japanese-style high speed trains to connect the regions along a closed track. Trips are expected to take 90 minutes and cost comparable to air travel between the two areas.

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Drayton McLane

“The more involved I have gotten with the Texas Bullet Train the more I realize its positive transformational impact on our state and our nation,” McLane said in a statement.

Though supporters have said it could be a revolutionary change in Texas transportation, skeptics and critics have called it a boondoggle that will strip rural landowners of access and their rustic surroundings. The project has faced intense opposition from landowners and lawmakers between Houston and Dallas.

The project is awaiting federal approvals as the company acquires land. Officials have said they hope to start construction in 2018, with trains operating along the line by 2023.

McLane owned the Houston Astros – who coincidentally play at Minute Maid Park, built atop Houston’s former train station – from 1992 until 2011.