As officials with Texas Central Railway work to determine train station locations for the proposed high speed rail project connecting Houston and Dallas, the northwest Houston area has emerged as an appealing candidate.

David Hagy, a Texas Central representative in Houston, said although a specific location has not been named, the company is considering the Hwy. 290 and Loop 610 interchange—in the general area of Northwest Mall—for the station. Ridership studies show this location reaching more people than a central downtown location, Hagy said.

“We removed the downtown station because we could never pick up enough revenue to justify being downtown,” he said. “We need people from downtown, but we also serve the Galleria area, the Energy Corridor and Northwest Houston, which is where all growth is happening. As we kept going toward downtown, our studies showed us passing up more passengers.”

The Texas Central Railway rail will leave along Hempstead Road until it reaches Kickapoo Road where it veers north along a CenterPoint utility line. Parts of the path have been set, but the path north of Grimes County is still being determined.[/caption]

Expected to be open to passengers by 2021, this project represents the first high-speed rail line in the Western Hemisphere, Hagy said. The first draft of an environmental impact statement will be completed this summer, and construction is slated to start in 2017.

“The capital market has responded favorably to the project, and pre-construction activities are proceeding according to schedule,” Hagy said. “The next major milestone in the ongoing environmental review process is the release of a draft environmental impact study later this year.”

Opposition files lawsuit

TCR officials have begun the process of acquiring survey permission from landowners who could potentially be affected by the project. The surveying process will help officials narrow down the rail’s exact path.

Hagy said minimizing the disturbance to property owners has been the priority throughout the corridor selection process, incorporating sound barriers and raised tracks.

Texans Against High Speed Rail, a group organized to oppose the project, filed a lawsuit against TCR in March. The lawsuit seeks to limit the scope of the survey permission, claiming the permission form requests unlimited, indefinite access to private property.

“We are confident that the survey form goes well beyond what Texas law allows,” said Blake Beckham, special litigation counsel for TAHSR.

TCR issued a statement defending its survey form, calling it a voluntary request to perform standard boundary and environmental surveys, similar to what other industries use during the normal course of business.