The company planning to build a bullet-train linkup between Dallas and Houston today identified its preferred route for the hour-and-a-half journey. The alignment, which the Texas Central Railway calls the Utility Corridor because it makes use electrical utility right-of-ways in Harris, Waller, and nearby counties, roughly follows south of Hwy. 290 once it enters Harris County, along the BNSF tracks parallel to Hempstead Rd. It would head into Downtown along the Union Pacific tracks paralleling Washington Ave. In the map above, the route is shown in gold (the line in red shows the second-choice route, along a different BNSF right-of-way).

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The organization also included a series of images noting possible locations of both Houston-area and College Station-area stations for the privately funded railway. Noted as points of station interest on the map (above) are a spot just south of Jersey Village, the intersection of Hwy. 290 and the West Loop near Mangum Manor, and Downtown. The company also notes that it will “recommend inclusion of an alternative involving the I-10 corridor as a potential approach to downtown Houston.”

The section being considered for what the company calls an “intermediate” station is 23 miles east of College Station. Here’s an overall map of the 2 routes, with the preferred path shown in gold:

Though a cast of Texas and Washington politicos headlines the railway company’s staff — including former Harris County judge Robert Eckels and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk — funding for the estimated $10 billion project would come primarily from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Maps: Texas Central Railway

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