April 14, 2019 –

Dear Texas Rail Advocates follower,

Your help is needed for calls and emails to your Texas Representative and Senator in a most urgent way. If you want to ride high-speed rail in the future we are asking you to take action now.

IT’S TIME TO MAKE SOME NOISE IN AUSTIN FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL

https://wrm.capitol. texas.gov/home You can find information on your state elected officials here:

BAD LANGUAGE TO HURT HIGH-SPEED RAIL MUST BE REMOVED

The Texas Senate passed a budget this past week that still contains a rider placed by Senator Brian Birdwell There was no reason for the rider to be in the state budget because it contains no taxpayer money, just a slick way of a state senator denying you a future transportation choice – high-speed rail. The budget bill will now head to a conference committee with House members where we must have the bad language stripped out. Here are the House members: let them know they should do the right thing and REMOVE THE RIDER. Chairman John Zerwas Greg Bonne n (R-Galveston), Sarah Davis Oscar Longoria Armando Walle HOUSE SUB-COMMITTEE TO HEAR BAD HIGH-SPEED RAIL BILLS TUESDAY The House Transportation Committee created a subcommittee chaired by Representative John Raney to hear almost two dozen anti-high-speed rail bills that have been filed this session. Tuesday morning April 16, starting at 8am in the State Capitol in Austin, the sub-committee will hear many of these bills. If you can be in Austin and attend, please do so. The committee needs to hear why high-speed rail is important to you and important to the economy of Texas. You can testify for two minutes to tell your story, you can electronically register at the Capitol to say you oppose the bills or even just sit in the hearing room and show your support. Every little bit helps. You can find out more about these bad high-speed rail bills on the Texas Rail Advocates website

TELL YOUR STORY WHY HIGH-SPEED RAIL IS RIGHT FOR TEXAS

If you can’t attend the sub-committee hearing on Tuesday April 16 but want TRA to let our lawmakers know how you feel then drop us a couple of sentences and tell us why the Dallas to Houston high-speed rail project is important to you. Is it for business reasons, visiting family, sick relatives, to go to a university, or any other reason. Tell us your story: send your email to news@texasrailadvocates.org FACTS The private entity that wants to bring high-speed rail to the Lone Star State, Texas Central Railwa y, said they will not accept state or federal handouts

y, said they will not accept state or federal handouts The project will unite two of the largest mega-regions in the U.S. with trains running up to 200 mph, covering North Texas to Houston in 90 minutes

It will create 10,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent good paying jobs

Every county in the path of the high-speed train will benefit from the property taxes the private company will pay every year

This is one of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Texas – valued at about $15 billion.

The footprint of the two-track railroad is small. About the width of a county road with shoulders.

There will be no grade-crossings and much of the railway will follow the high-tension power line towers or be elevated.