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[quote user="CMStPnP"] I am not understanding why the High Speed rail train would have to transverse from DFW to Dallas?   Why not head South directly from DFW to Houston?    Why is there an assumption it has to follow existing track routings?     As for Megabus it has it's own market.   We've been over the Bus vs Train argument more than a few times on this website.    Some crossover between the two but not a lot. [/quote] The cost of building a new line from scratch would be multiple times the cost of expanding existing rights-of-way, thus the argument for following existing rail lines. Moreover, bypassing downtown Dallas would be politically dangerous. I am familiar with two proposals for investor owned or supported passenger rail.  One is in Italy; the other is in Florida.  Both groups propose using existing rail facilities for all or most of their routes. DART's light rail lines, with the possible exception of the Orange Line to DFW, as well as the downtown sections, and maybe the Ledbetter extension, were built on existing or abandoned rail lines. They could not have afforded to built it along scratch rights-of-way. A train from the Metroplex to Houston will have to compete with the airlines and the bus carriers. It will also have to coax people out of their cars and trucks, which will not be easy in Texas.  I just came back from Dallas.  I-35 is being completely rebuilt from the Mexican border to the Canadian border.  That's what most Texans want to see.  Poll after poll shows Texans want better highways.  None of this rules out a train, but the options will be a serious challenge.
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