High-speed rail hub eyed near downtown Dallas

Real estate investors who have bought up land south of downtown Dallas plan to develop the property into a high-speed passenger rail terminal.

Dallas developer Jack Matthews and his partner Fort Worth businessman John Kleinheinz own more than 50 acres for the proposed station along Riverfront Boulevard south of downtown.

They are also working on similar projects in Houston and near College Station.

Their Texas High-Speed Rail Station Development Corp. would build stations to serve the proposed Texas Central highspeed rail line from Dallas to Houston.

“Our high-speed rail project connecting Dallas and Houston will be as transformational to Texas as DFW Airport was to the region when it was opened in 1973,” Kleinheinz said in a statement. “Texas Central will be the blueprint for national highspeed rail, a solution for environmentally efficient transportation. “As this first high-speed rail project comes online, Texas is positioned to lead in discussions about a national rail strategy with the local and federal stakeholders,” he said. “These station assets will be an integral part of the system.”

The partners’ proposed Houston rail station would be built on the former Northwest Mall site northwest of downtown near Interstate 610.

The College Station location is in Grimes County.

Texas Central hopes to build the rail line that would transport Dallas riders to Houston in 90 minutes in state-of-the-art trains.

The company this summer signed a $16 billion contract with an Italian firm to build the rail system.

Texas courts have so far rebuffed efforts by landowners and other parties to stymie the project.

The 240-mile high-speed rail line is expected to cost at least $20 billion and still faces construction and funding hurdles.

Construction would take an estimated six years.