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Burns underscored the need for state involvement in high-speed rail projects. In a final report on the authority, former executive director Marc H. But after Texas TGV failed to meet a financial deadline, and the authority began termination proceedings against it in 1994, lawmakers abolished the authority.ĭuring its short tenure, the authority had the power to exercise eminent domain and condemn property that was "in the public interest" on behalf of Texas TGV, according to the bill which authorized the authority. The authority, which was created in 1989 by the 71st Texas Legislature, awarded the franchise to plan, finance, construct and operate a high-speed rail system to Texas TGV Consortium. One of Leman’s biggest concerns about the project is that even if Texas Central can use eminent domain, there is apparently no state agency explicitly charged with determining if its plans for high-speed rail would benefit the public enough to warrant condemnation proceedings in the courts.īack in the 1990s, the Texas High-Speed Rail Authority was a government entity tasked with determining if Texans wanted a high-speed rail system and awarding the right to build one to the most qualified private applicant, according to records from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. "And then the landowner is sitting there scratching his head and saying, ‘Who do I turn to?'" "It's nothing more than you and I sitting in a room with a couple hundred million dollars and saying, ‘We're a railroad company, and we're going to condemn your property,'" said state Rep. Meanwhile, a newly elected lawmaker who has long opposed the project plans to file legislation that addresses what he calls "systemic flaws" in state statutes that arguably allow the company to condemn the land it will need.
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But that same legal question is at the heart of other ongoing court cases across Texas. In one Harris County case, a judge agreed the company has such powers. Texas Central remains embroiled in the ongoing debate about its authority to condemn land. Given the fierce opposition to the project in rural areas, eminent domain is likely to become a necessity at some point.
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"We listen to hear, you know, are we impacting your driveway or your stock tank, and we come back, and we work to see what we can do to solve for those problems."
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"Each person has a different story about what's important to them," Reed said. And the company vows to minimize how much the line will impact the land around it. Holly Reed, Texas Central's managing director of external affairs, said the company prefers not to use eminent domain "at all" and would rather work out amicable sales agreements for the thousands of parcels needed to construct the 240-mile project across 10 counties. "There's a historically designated cemetery on the land and just a lot of history in this area." Central Texas Partners released this map showing the likely route of a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston. "My family was born and raised here, and it's a special place," Machac said. As legal battles and bureaucratic processes that could resolve such key disagreements play out, Texas Central is holding off from condemning anything - and Machac is holding on to her property. Texas Central asserts that state law gives it the right to use eminent domain and force unwilling owners to sell their land, but Machac isn’t so convinced. "It was a good thing for me for sure."īut 100 miles away, Liz Machac has been adamant about holding on to her 235 acres of Grimes County property in the path of the proposed bullet train. "The people were very professional," said Waters, who also owns land in Mexia and Galveston. With power lines slicing his property in two, he had already been itching to get rid of the land before Texas Central Partners LLC approached him. But many project opponents say a state agency should be involved in a private company’s use of eminent domain.Ĭliff Waters couldn't have been happier when a representative for the private company developing a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston offered to buy his Freestone County land. A proposed high-speed rail would be built along existing power lines for much of its length between Dallas and Houston.