Private high-speed rail has eminent domain powers in Texas. Here’s why

“Texas Central Railway’s privately funded bullet train will need to buy private land as it makes its way from Dallas to Houston. For landowners in the path of the tracks, the first-of-its-kind project will have eminent domain powers as a last resort.

The $10 billion project would use Japanese N700 Shinkansen trains capable of going more than 200 mph. More than 60 trains a day could be making the 90-minute trip between Dallas to Houston by 2021.

The majority of the route will follow existing utility lines or freight tracks. But the tracks will also cross private land. Click on the photos above to see the routes being considered as part of the federal environmental feasibility study.

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Sakelaris, Nicholas. Dallas Business Journal 21 January 2015.