Fort Worth and Arlington — Tarrant County’s tourism hotspots — plan to work together to study the economic benefits of a proposed high-speed rail route to Dallas.
On April 22, Fort Worth City Council members agreed to spend up to $75,000 for an economic impact analysis through an interlocal agreement with its neighboring city to the east. Arlington would spend about $183,750.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, an advocate for increased rail transit options in the city and region, previously said the proposed rail project is “an integral part of our transportation future” and would greatly benefit Fort Worth.
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross told the Fort Worth Report that his city plans to participate in the economic impact study, intended to show the benefits of a potential high speed rail line connecting North Texas’ three largest cities along the Interstate 30 corridor. That item was not listed on the Arlington City Council’s April 22 agenda, but is expected to be addressed soon.
“Arlington will work with Fort Worth to make it happen,” Ross said, adding that Dallas was invited to participate in the study but did not respond.
Dallas, where officials have occasionally sparred with their Tarrant counterparts over the high-speed rail route, approved $567,000 for its own economic impact study last year.
Ross said the project could be a “game changer” for Arlington, home of stadiums for the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers, as well as Fort Worth, which sees substantial tourism to the Stockyards, numerous nationally known museums and other entertainment districts.
The Tarrant County line would connect with a proposed Houston-to-Dallas high-speed rail project that is now a private venture after a nearly $64 million federal grant with Amtrak was terminated by President Donald Trump’s administration. The project by Texas Central Railway is led by top investor Kleinheinz Capital Partners Inc. of Fort Worth, which previously said it was “proud to have stepped in as the private sector sponsor of the Texas high-speed rail.”
The project, if completed, would be capable of transporting passengers at about 140 miles per hour along the 271-mile trek from Houston to Fort Worth. The project would be the world’s second-fastest train, slightly slower than an 819-mile Chinese rail project that whisks riders from Beijing to Shanghai at 143 miles per hour.
Fort Worth-area leaders have pledged their support for a rail plan that will benefit North Texas, where the population is expected to double from 8 million to more than 15 million by 2050, according to growth estimates presented by the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
Disclosure: The Kleinheinz Family Foundation has been a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.