ACTION ALERT!

Dear RPA Members and Friends,

Texas Central’s high-speed rail project between Houston and Dallas needs your help. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is preparing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project and released a Draft EIS on December 15, 2017.  The FRA is now soliciting public comments on this Draft EIS. Texas Central HSR will be America’s first completely privately funded high-speed rail project. The Texas Central HSR project is an RPA top priority and we need your voices to be heard.

Your support in the eastern United States for Texas’ HSR project shows that high-speed rail is of national importance and is not just relevant to Texans.  As passenger rail in your region expands geographically as well as technologically, embracing transformative infrastructure projects across the country bolsters support for all infrastructure projects needed to bring our transportation system up to standards we, as Americans, demand. Seeing projects such as Texas Central HSR and the Gateway Project as equals rather than competitors strengthens our efforts rather than splits it.

The infrastructure investment in Texas on large-scale transportation projects will not only affect the Texas economy but also the national economy as the US finds more ways to remain economically competitive in a global 21st century economy. The proper infrastructure investment to move people, goods, and services is vital to our future and a legacy we must leave for future generations.

High-speed rail in Texas is one piece of RPA’s A Connected America and we only have a short time to make our case for this project of national importance, so you are urged to submit COMMENTS on-line supporting Texas Central’s project. Comments must be submitted by March 9, 2018.

 Why should you support Texas Central HSR?

• 100% privately funded infrastructure unlocks more local investment

• Creates 10,000 construction jobs each year and 1,000 permanent jobs

• Texas Central will be a tax-payer, not a tax-taker, paying $2.5 Billion in taxes in 25 years

• Estimates injecting $36 Billion over next 25 years into the Texas economy

• Re-enforces importance of investment in a balanced transportation system

• Creates vital piece of a 21st century transportation system

• N700 Bullet Train emits 1/12th the CO2 as a jet would between Houston and Dallas

• The current 4-hour, 240 mile mile trek up I-45 is expected to increase to 6.5 hours by 2035

• I-45 is the nation’s 2nd deadliest interstate in the U.S.; rail keeps more cars off roads and saves lives

• With a 90-minute travel time, be at your destination before you could board a flight after arriving at an airport

With the Texas population set to nearly double by 2050, now is the time to be proactive and put in place infrastructure that can support the ballooning population along the Houston to Dallas corridor. Building more or wider highways is not the answer; sustainable, frequent, on-time mass transportation is, and will be, embraced as the preferred mode of transportation in the future.

By registering your comments with the FRA, you are helping to make a transformative change in how we invest in and build the infrastructure of the future. For more information check out our website at www.railpassengers.org.

Thank you!