The only planned stop between Houston and Dallas on the proposed high-speed rail line shows up 27 miles east of College Station in a new report from the Federal Rail Road Administration. The map at top shows a rough outline of the Brazos Valley Station along Highway 30, as well as its surroundings in Roans Prairie, the small town that would host it.
Roans Prairie’s main drag is further east, off the map at the junction of highways 30 and 90. The town is currently home to a Valero gas station, Family Dollar store, U-Haul dealer, and Mobile Homes for Less.
- Draft Environmental Impact Statement [Federal Railroad Administration via Christof Spieler]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â The 3 Finalists for Houston’s High-Speed Rail Station: Northwest Mall, Northwest Transit Center, Hempstead Rd. Industrial;Â The Ride to the Bullet Train at Northwest Mall;Â Houston-to-Dallas Bullet Train Putting the Brakes on All Those Lawsuits
Image: Federal Railroad Administration
Railroad Town
why is there ANY stop on a high speed line linking high-population centers?
Is this being designed by Aggies?
Having real trouble understanding this one. The point of HSR is to move people from one population CENTER to another. I didn’t really like the 290/610 station decision, but understood the logistical/financial reasoning behind it. But to put the Brazos County station in a cow pasture 27 miles east of TAMU, that makes zero sense.
They initially looked at having a spur line go to B/CS, but that was going to be cost prohibitive. This was basically a compromise between giving B/CS a station (which the local officials wanted) and providing the most direct route between Dallas and Houston. In the grand scheme of things this station is a small part of the whole project and I don’t think they plan on having every train stop at this station.
SO in other words …. Aggies are not welcome on the train. Ride your horse instead.
Everyone knows that if you’re flying from Houston to Dallas on Southwest, you have to make a quick stop in Nacogdoches County to let off all the people going to SFA.
That site is about 4.5 miles east of Shiro, TX., a bustling metropolis of 211 people. Where do they plan on getting the ROW to run the rail line? I cant imagine the 211 people in Shiro TX are too excited about a train carrying a bunch of big city folks going through their town, much less giving up land for it. Or how it will effect the environment.
man this is looking an awful lot like that dumb tollway to nowhere that got built east of san marcos.
Aggies are a powerful grouping in Texas and they usually get what they want, more or less. But I wonder at the precedent: why shouldn’t Waco have a station, too? And Killeen-Temple?
The French TGV’s have stations outside of towns where it would be cost or speed prohibitive to take the tracks into a town center, Same with Japanese Shinkasen lines. Look up the TGV Champagne-Ardenne station for an example in France. In Japan, Shin-Yokohama station is the same concept.
My pet theory is that the “College Station-Station” will exist merely to expedite transfers onto an Austin-San Antonio spur. This spur likely will be the next leg in the system. Dallas to Austin would hook through College Station and Houston to Dallas would do the same. This would add fifty miles or so to the trip, vis a vis a straight line from Dallas to Austin or Houston to Austin but that would amount to only fifteen minutes extra travel time whilst saving billions in construction on the 300 miles of track that an additional two straight line routes would require.
why isn’t there a Renaissance Festival station?
(I’m trolling)
Right along Interstate 14.
Remember the fight that was touched off when Rick Perry proposed a massive new toll/rail corridor that would parallel I35? The farm/ranch lobby killed that project right dead. Don’t be surprised when the same outcome occurs here.
The station in Roans Prairie is a developers dream–high-speed rail, new I-14 interstate, and miles and miles of undeveloped land. The master planned communities will start popping up in no time. Work in the city (Houston or Dallas) and live out in the country on your acreage homestead. Just wait, the Bryan-College Station-Huntsville MSA will see the fastest population growth in the entire nation for years and years to come.
Thomas, I believe it.
Would it make more sense to put this closer to the US 190 / I 14 route?
@ Robert Rutherford: The I-14 route is totally conceptual at this point. Planning documents basically just highlight any US or State highways that generally connect small cities that might be served, zig-zagging every which way. And even that frail pathetic effort amounts to absolutely nothing, as indicated in the fine print. I really hope that the I-14 project isn’t just some boondoggle that swerves north and south to try and connect as many little cities as possible without being mindful of efficient long-distance travel, but…what I’m hoping isn’t what I’m thinking.
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FWIW, one of the meaningless routes that got highlighted was SH 30.