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TxDOT Approves Creation Of High-Speed Rail Commission

The Texas Transportation Commission has given the green light to forming a high-speed rail commission to oversee a bullet train project between Fort Worth and Dallas. The Texas Department of Transportation agreed to take $15 million in federal funds in order to study the issue.

This week, commissioners set up a separate high-speed rail commission headed up by former transportation commissioner Bill Meadows.

"The department recommends the creation of the Commission of High Speed Rail in the Dallas-Fort Worth region to advise staff on the development of inner-city rail corridors, new transportation policies, funding and procurement of high speed rail between Dallas and Fort Worth," said TxDOT’s Eric Steven.

The $15 million covers preliminary engineering and environmental studies. A separate track of high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston is being headed up by a private investor

"Texas Central Railway is interested and has announced publicly its plans with private funds to build a line from just north of Houston to just south of downtown Dallas," said Transportation Commissioner Victor Vandergriff.

That project will complete the privately-funded high-speed rail corridor between Houston and Dallas by 2016. TxDOT funded a professor of civil engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington to study the possibility of connecting all major Texas with high speed rail.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.