I think you need a bit more info about this project before being so pessimistic. It's far from a done deal, but I've followed this project for a while and it has unique characteristics that can make it successful:
- They are targeting business airline travel. The volume of business air commuters across this corridor was specifically why they decided to start with these two cities.
- This is privately funded (although certainly with government help like airlines).
- Dallas & Houston are 239 miles apart. It's really the sweet spot for HSR to be very competitive with air travel, especially when you factor in the airport experience.
All that said, there are SO many hurdles yet to overcome and the project has stopped and restarted a few times already. But I think this project is very well informed by the challenges and failures of California's HSR efforts and probably has the best shot of actually happening across all the national initiatives I know about.
EDIT: There was already an Amtrak partnership in place but it was really just allowing passengers to purchase tickets for the Texas Bullet Train via Amtrak. This seems like conversation to broaden the partnership, though details are sketchy. More partnership from Amtrak almost seems to add risk, though I understand it may be a necessary evil.
- They are targeting business airline travel. The volume of business air commuters across this corridor was specifically why they decided to start with these two cities.
- This is privately funded (although certainly with government help like airlines).
- Dallas & Houston are 239 miles apart. It's really the sweet spot for HSR to be very competitive with air travel, especially when you factor in the airport experience.
All that said, there are SO many hurdles yet to overcome and the project has stopped and restarted a few times already. But I think this project is very well informed by the challenges and failures of California's HSR efforts and probably has the best shot of actually happening across all the national initiatives I know about.
EDIT: There was already an Amtrak partnership in place but it was really just allowing passengers to purchase tickets for the Texas Bullet Train via Amtrak. This seems like conversation to broaden the partnership, though details are sketchy. More partnership from Amtrak almost seems to add risk, though I understand it may be a necessary evil.