After a decade of hype, Dallas-Houston bullet train developer faces a leadership exodus as land acquisition slows

An undeveloped portion of land near the proposed site of a bullet train station outside downtown Dallas on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. The developer of the high-speed rail line has faced a leadership exodus this year. (Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune)

Ten years ago, a company calling itself Texas Central High-Speed Railway announced plans for a trailblazing bullet train that would whisk passengers between Dallas and Houston in 90 minutes. Company leaders exuded confidence that the trains would be running up to 205 miles per hour by 2020.

The potential for an American high-speed rail line captured the imagination of Texans and national train enthusiasts alike. At one point during an event celebrating the unbuilt high-speed rail line, then-Vice President Joe Biden told a Dallas crowd, “You’re going to lead this country into an entirely new era of transportation.”