Environmental study on high-speed rail from Houston to Dallas begins

"All [routes] have their strengths," Eckels said. "The main thing we're looking for is the cost of construction and to minimize the impact on the communities."

He said public meetings will be held in the next two months to receive input on how the project could affect nearby communities and what residents would like to see. Meetings will likely be held in the north Houston region.

Eckels said he believes getting the message out to the community about the project could be one of the biggest obstacles in getting it constructed because of how new it is to the United States.

There are no similar rail projects in the U.S., he said.

As the environmental process continues, Eckels said examining the safety standards of the project will be concurrently examined. Using state-of-the-art technology, these high-speed trains have run in Japan for 50 years without any fatalities due to train errors.

"You don't have wrecks on these trains like you do on other trains," he said. "It's a quiet train. It's a safe train. It's extremely fast. That's a message we need to get out to people to understand."

Eckels said the project will not be constructed with federal or state funding. Instead a number of private investors would fund the multibillion dollar project through debt and equity and be repaid through ticket sales. Tickets would likely cost less than commercial airfare, he said.

"There's also some money to be made in transit-oriented developments along the stops," Eckels said.

Eckels said a car trip from Houston to Dallas along I-45 today is roughly four hours and could increase to six hours by 2035. Not only could a high-speed rail be an alternative to additional taxpayer-funded construction along I-45, but Eckels said he believes it will aid in economic growth in Texas.

"Both the Houston and Dallas/Forth Worth areas are the big economic drivers for Texas," Eckels said. "This will make it so much easier to capitalize on the assets in both communities and continue economic growth for Texas."

Myeshi Briley, president of the Spring-Klein Chamber of Commerce, said she supports the project. Briley said she believes it could provide more flexibility for commuters.

"I think it can really help the dynamics of transportation to get from Dallas to our area really quickly," Briley said. "It can also help with job opportunities. People could commute back and forth from Dallas to Spring."