Texas lawmakers plan to seize land to build express trains

Texas officials plan to use preemption law to seize land from private owners as the state moves forward with plans to build the world’s first high-speed rail line.

There are plans for a 240-mile route connecting Dallas and Houston, where high-speed passenger trains would travel at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour and help commuters make the trip in less than 90 minutes. The latest proposal would significantly bolster a project that has garnered both support and criticism as it nears completion.

The proposal was discussed Thursday during a meeting of the Regional Transportation Council, an independent policy body of the North Central Texas Council of Municipalities.

According to the group’s draft legislative priorities, in order for the rail project to be implemented it will be necessary to establish a national body responsible for high-speed rail.

This, they say, would require “providing counties and cities with expanded land-use controls to preserve future transportation corridors and support land-use, housing, schools, and transportation connectivity policies that best serve growth needs.”

The authorities would “retain expropriation rights to enable the planning and development of new and/or expanded transport corridors, including high-speed rail, commuter rail, freight rail, roads and trails.”

According to the Texas Landowners’ Bill of Rights, the power of eminent domain is “a legal right granted to certain entities to take private property for a public purpose” while providing property owners with compensation for their land at fair market value.

According to Queenan Law, a Texas-based firm, owners have the right to challenge the government’s use of eminent domain, but in many cases, “when the government comes after your property, there are procedures in place where they can force you to sell your land, even if you don’t want to.”

In June 2022, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure Inc., the company spearheading the high-speed rail project, had a preemptive right to seize private property from a Leon County property owner whose land was on the proposed rail line.

“We are disappointed with this ruling,” Regan Beck, director of government affairs for the Texas Farm Bureau, said at the time. “Unfortunately, this decision opens the door for yet another private company to take personal property under the expropriation law.”

Newsweek contacted Texas Central for comment on the use of expropriation law to advance the project.

Beyond the possibility of expropriation, the Texas high-speed rail project has received a wealth of economic and political support in recent months.

In April, reports emerged that President Joe Biden was discussing the project with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, apparently with the aim of acquiring domestic bullet train technology and bringing the project closer to fruition.

Last week, the federal government awarded Amtrak, the national passenger rail company, a $64 million grant to build the 240-mile line.

Texas Central says the train alone, using Japanese Shinkansen technology, could reduce the number of cars traveling on Interstate 45 by as much as 12,500 per day.

The high-speed rail project has met resistance, however, with some arguing that the project costs exceed the funds received so far.

According to a 2023 study by the libertarian think tank Reason Foundation, the project’s estimated cost has risen from $10 billion to $33.4 billion, a figure that could exceed $40 billion.

The advisory team concluded that exercising the right of expropriation would increase these costs.

“Texas Central has still not fully accounted for the costs of acquiring land along its proposed route,” the report said. “Regardless of whether the company intends to acquire land through independent transactions or expropriation, property values ​​have increased significantly.”

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