COMMENT OF THE DAY: TEXAS CENTRAL’S PARKING GARAGE ISN’T JUST A SIDE GIG 
“Site plans of both stations (Houston and Dallas) make it clear that the revenue model for this project isn’t selling train tickets — it’s selling parking. This site is ideal for that purpose: there’s no where nearby (walking distance) to compete for parking revenue, and it has a much cheaper land cost than Downtown. If you’re going to make the station 80 percent parking garage, why bother spending the extra money running it all the way to Downtown?” [Angostura, commenting on What Texas Central’s Proposed Houston Bullet Train Station Looks Like in Place of the Northwest Mall] Conceptual rendering of Houston bullet train station from W. 18th St.: Texas Central
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Southwest airlines always considered a car their competition to Dallas and with the train it will be the same. The car wins! The train will be just like the existing trains in Houston… low ridership for sure. So why take a train that takes 45 minutes, pay high rates of parking while I’m gone, have to rent a car get there. Oh wait add a extra hour and half to the trip each way cause you have to check in early and go through security. No one is talking about the security… we have to have that to make everyone fill safe. So let get homeland security involved in the process! The project turns into another government funded jobs program that is under utilized do to low ridership and cost overruns. Remind of the benefits of the train again? No thanks… I’ll drive!
The Dallas station will leave you at the doorstep of their central business district as appropriate. Houston’s station will leave you at the doorstep of nowhere, surrounded by Checkers, Whatburger and Applebee’s. How tacky, but oh, how Houston.
Assuming the trains primary intent is to capture the travelers between both cities that currently choose to fly instead of drive are these not primarily business travellers? What percentage of users do we really see needing to go downtown or the Main st. corridor as a final destination?
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Downtown is cluttered, a pain to get into and a pain to get out of. Why would we intentionally funnel more traffic into an overcrowded corridor when a majority of them don’t even want to go downtown?
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If they’re headed to any other business districts (uptown, westchase, energy corridor, greenspoint, woodlands, etc.) then NW mall is a far more ideal location for every one of them and there are no realistic mass transit options from downtown to any of these corridors. These people will be renting cars or drivers and downtown is not the place to be managing such logistics.
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If we had a city-wide mass transit then downtown would make sense, but that’s not what we have and it’s more than 10 miles away from the center of the regions population base.
I’m excited about the NW rail terminal. While waiting for the train I can grab some Sbarro’s peruse Palais Royal or Gadzooks, play some Tron; maybe some skee-ball. Pick up some Hickory Farms for the trip. Can’t wait!
these folks who keep screaming about this train needing to go to our “CBD” and claim that downtown is its epicenter, have no clue about Houston’s infrastructure and how the growth has spread over a 25 year period. Get a clue before you speak out about something you don’t really understand, comes off tacky. It’s amazing how many people in this city have no clue about Houston’s growth and where business happens (fyi, it’s not downtown, gasp!)
Joel seems to get it
Though I don’t know the security level of American trains, I can say on high speed trains in France, there is no security like you see in airports. There is no security on Vonlane luxury buses between Houston and Dallas so all this getting to the station 1.5 hours early may be non existent. I think Northwest Mall is a great spot for a terminal because every person who wants to go between Dallas and Houston doesn’t necessarily have any business in either Downtown. I’d take the train in a heartbeat to never deal with airport security, plane seats crammed in to one another, baggage claim, idiots who cannot figure out how to stow luggage, etc……So you rent a car or take an Uber at your destination? You’d be doing that anyway with a plane and the drive just plain sucks. 30 years of I-45 never ending construction in Navarro County, the psychos of the North Freeway and the stress of having to be alert and on guard is worth the price of the fare.
@Dan Wood, the answer to all your ‘last mile’ concerns is a problem that’s already been solved. It’s called Uber and will cost you about $7 on each end.
JT – how will idiots who don’t know how to stow luggage be prevented from riding the train? Pre-screening?
@Jules. Only speaking from the experience in riding European trains, luggage is put in a rack as one enters the train–not in overhead bins like in airplanes. With multiple entry points to the train, one isn’t really at the mercy of some moron who has to fumble around trying to get his/her bottle of nasal spray and pack of Doritos from his/her luggage while others stand in the aisle trying to get into his seat
@ Jules
Trains leave whether you’re fumbling w/ your back or not. Planes can’t. Idiots w/ baggage on a train not quite the impediment that they are on planes
Get a ride to the station. Problem solved. Does no one have friends or family?
@C17
If you’re posting on Swamplot, you most definitely don’t have any friends. ;-P
Has nobody ever ridden a train in a place that it actually works? You just walk on and off. Try out the Caltrain if you don’t wanna go international. You wait a few mins at the station, people hop on board, very few have luggage, and some have bikes for the bike car. It’s a lot easier than going through an airport.