Maps show where high-speed trains could travel beyond a Houston-Dallas line

The US High Speed Rail Association released maps showing a proposed system of high speed rail that would connect America’s major cities by 2030. The US High Speed Rail Association released maps showing a proposed system of high speed rail that would connect America’s major cities by 2030. Photo: US HIGH SPEED RAIL ASSOCIATION Photo: US HIGH SPEED RAIL ASSOCIATION Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Maps show where high-speed trains could travel beyond a Houston-Dallas line 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Europe and Japan have shown that high-speed rail is a pretty effective way to move around the world. Data from the Trans-European Transport Network says a 250 mile journey can be up to an hour faster on a high-speed train than by plane.

If the same holds true for Texas, the 225 mile journey between Houston and Dallas on a proposed bullet train might actually be faster, too.

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The US High Speed Rail Association is a non-profit organization working on bringing that technology to America. They claim a 17,000 mile high-speed rail system could be completed as early as 2030.

"This new national system will revitalize our economy, reactivate our manufacturing sector, create millions of jobs, end our oil dependency, reduce congestion, and cut our carbon footprint by epic proportions." the group said on their website.

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The fifteen year plan would occur in several phases. A major high-speed rail would be planned between Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, connecting the Texas Triangle. Other organizations have calculated that a direct route between Houston and Dallas would take roughly 90 minutes.

It doesn't stop there: as years go by, these major lines would be connected to other major lines to form a network. For example, Texas's high-speed rail lines would then branch out to New Orleans, which would provide access to other major southern cities like New Orleans or Atlanta.

In addition to a interstate rail system, the plan calls for more localized forms of public train transit. A regional rail system and a city streetcar tram system would connect major infrastructure in cities and provide access to major interstate high-speed rail ports.

Ideally one would be able to take a short walk to a local streetcar that would eventually lead to a major high-speed rail. Through a series of interconnected high-speed trains, someone living in Houston would be able to reach either side of the American coast.

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In a 1955 message to congress regarding the need for a national highway plan, Eisenhower may have unknowingly made the best argument for an all-American interstate high-speed rail.

"Our unity as a nation is sustained by free communication of thought and by easy transportation of people and goods. The ceaseless flow of information throughout the Republic is matched by individual and commercial movement over a vast system of interconnected highways criss-crossing the Country and joining at our national borders with friendly neighbors to the north and south.

Together, the uniting forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear--United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts."

Above: Click through to see what America's train routes would look like.