September 29, 2016 - TRA Newswire

Responses to Request for Information due Nov. 18

(Arlington, Texas) – North Texas is poised to be a testing ground for high-speed rail in the US, and the Regional Transportation Council is ready to play a part in its development. With a surging population and diversified economy relying on efficient transportation to continue growing, Dallas-Fort Worth could be a good market to introduce the technology to the rest of the country.

What’s needed now is information on moving from idea to implementation.

The RTC has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking feedback on the financing, construction and management of high-speed rail in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Officials are seeking to bring an east-west high-speed rail line to the area to connect the planned line between Dallas and Houston and a Texas-Oklahoma project being developed by the Texas Department of Transportation.

Texas Central Partners has proposed the Dallas-to-Houston line, which could open in 2021 and carry passengers to Houston in 90 minutes. The Texas-Oklahoma corridor is currently being studied and could ultimately bring high-speed trains to the Interstate Highway 35 corridor, from Oklahoma City to San Antonio and beyond, with a stop in Fort Worth.

Known as the Dallas-Fort Worth Core Express Service, the east-west connection would likely include a station in the Arlington area, as well as stations in downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments will host an industry forum at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at its Arlington offices, 616 Six Flags Drive, to provide additional information to potential RFI respondents. Attendance at the forum is not a requirement for responding to this RFI, nor is responding to this RFI a requirement for future participation in the DFW Core Express Service Project.

Responses to the RFI are due Nov. 18. NCTCOG will use the information received in the responses to outline the best methods for delivering high-speed rail to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For information on high-speed rail, visit www.nctcog.org/hsr. Read the RFI at www.nctcog.org/rfp.

About the North Central Texas Council of Governments:

NCTCOG is a voluntary association of local governments established in 1966 to assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit and coordinating for sound regional development. NCTCOG's purpose is to strengthen both the individual and collective power of local governments and to help them recognize regional opportunities, eliminate unnecessary duplication and make joint decisions.

NCTCOG serves a 16-county region of North Central Texas, which is centered on the two urban centers of Dallas and Fort Worth. Currently, NCTCOG has 238 member governments including 16 counties, 169 cities, 22 school districts and 31 special districts. For more information on the NCTCOG Transportation Department, visit www.nctcog.org/trans.

The Regional Transportation Council (RTC) of the North Central Texas Council of Governments has served as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for regional transportation planning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1974. The MPO works in cooperation with the region’s transportation providers to address the complex transportation needs of the rapidly growing metropolitan area. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise counties. The RTC’s 44 members include local elected or appointed officials from the metropolitan area and representatives from each of the area’s transportation providers. More information can be found at www.nctcog.org.