Policy and Financial Analysis of High-Speed Rail Ventures in the State of Texas

A renewed interest in high-speed rail as an alternative transportation mode in Texas remains mostly as an idea, with opinions based primarily on perceptions about the state's past experience with this technology. If this concept is to advance toward a realistic alternative for transportation planners, future policies should be formulated with consideration of past policies, corporate behavior, forecasting reliability, and financial feasibility. Therefore, previous public and private efforts to bring high-speed rail to Texas have been investigated with the hope that future ventures will be timely, cost effective, and reliable. This report presents an alternative feasibility assessment methodology to assist in achieving these goals.