Company gets $300M loan for high-speed train project

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas company has secured a $300 million loan for a proposed high-speed rail project from Dallas to Houston.

Texas Central Partners will use the funds from Japanese sources to move forward with permitting, design and engineering, The Dallas Morning News reported . The company plans to use Japanese bullet train technology for the project, which could be the first high-speed rail service in the U.S.

“This is a loan to be paid back with interest,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “It does not change the train’s majority-Texan ownership.”

The loan will give the company enough equity to move forward with construction once it’s authorized, company officials said.

The privately funded project would cost $12 billion to $15 billion, according to Texas Central officials. The train would make a 90-minute trip from Dallas to Houston, with one stop near Texas A&M University in Grimes County.

The 240-mile (386-kilometer) route could open by 2024, the company said.

The project still needs final environmental clearance before the five-year construction process can begin.