Rail Passengers Congratulates Texas Central On Legal Victory

For Immediate Release (22-10)
Contact: Madison Butler, [email protected]

WASHINGTON -- Rail Passengers Association CEO Jim Mathews today congratulated Texas Central Railway on its complete and unequivocal legal victory today in the Texas Supreme Court, which eliminates the uncertainty around the project and clears the way for supporters to invest in long-awaited plans to link Dallas and Houston with a modern, safe, green transportation option for Texans who have waited long enough for new service.

One week after the Rail Passengers Association urged the Court to rule quickly and directly on the case, the Texas Supreme Court today rejected landowners’ challenges about whether Texas Central was indeed a railroad or an interurban electric railway, affirming a 2020 Appeals Court ruling in Texas Central’s favor.

Mathews welcomed today’s 5-3 decision.

“We have been dismayed over the years to see this fight drag on given the lengths to which Texas Central has tried to appease a small group of landowners. Using an endless series of lawsuits to grind the approval process for ambitious projects to a crawl is, in the end, the same as giving veto power over all new development to anyone with deep enough pockets to front the legal fees,” Mathews said in reaction to today’s ruling. “This is one reason why the U.S. isn’t able to build ambitious infrastructure anymore, and it’s good to see the Texas Supreme Court put an end to these ceaseless and, frankly, baseless challenges to Texas Central’s status as a railway.”

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About Rail Passengers Association

The Rail Passengers Association is the oldest and largest national organization serving as a voice for the more than 40 million rail passengers in the U.S. Our mission is to improve and expand conventional intercity and regional passenger train services, support higher speed rail initiatives, increase connectivity among all forms of transportation and ensure safety for our country's trains and passengers. All of this makes communities safer, more accessible, and more productive, improving the lives of everyone who lives, works and plays in towns all across America.