Texas Needs A High-Speed Rail System

My classmate Kyle published an article regarding the building of a high-speed rail system connecting the "Texas Triangle" of cities, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. I am in full support of a long-distance rail system in Texas. In other parts of the country, and the world, trains are an important part of life. It is an efficient mode of transportation that is also affordable.

While there is currently a passenger railroad in Texas, (the Texas Eagle) it doesn't reach enough of the state. The Texas Eagle runs from El Paso to San Antonio through Austin to Dallas then to Texarkana. This line completely misses most of north Texas and southeast Texas.

Timeliness is also an issue with the current Amtrak lines. To get from Austin to Dallas takes approximately six hours. Almost double what it takes to drive to Dallas. The fact that our American trains are relatively slow compared to our European and Asian counterparts is also a reason that our trains are so unpopular. In order to appeal to the general populous, trains need to be exciting again.

Kyle addresses many good points and also addresses the opposition.