USA: On June 22 Dallas – Houston high speed railway promoter Texas Central told Railway Gazette International that it ‘remains open for business under its new management, is continuing to seek further investment, and is moving forward with the development of this high speed train’.
This came after CEO & President Carlos Aguilar announced that he was leaving, saying he ‘could not align our current stakeholders on a common vision for a path forward’.
The future of the project is dependent on a Texas Supreme Court ruling on land acquisition which is expected this summer. In a statement announcing his departure which was posted on LinkedIn on June 11, Aguilar said he was ‘immensely proud’ of the team’s achievements including obtaining end-to-end regulatory approvals for ‘the first true high speed rail project in our nation’s history’.
He said Texas Central had grown from a small start-up to an expert interdisciplinary team ‘that became a true leader in this sector worldwide’, and attracted ‘the best companies in the high speed rail industry’ to compete for key roles.
He said ‘graduates’ of the project would ‘continue to contribute to our economy through their roles at other companies’ and ‘eventually, this team could implement this desperately-needed project to improve safety, reduce traffic, reduce greenhouse emissions, and connect two of the most important centres in the country with the most advanced train service available’.
He believed that ‘Texas and the US deserve the best transportation options, and I am convinced that in time, these will become a reality’.
