What Collin County Dwellers Think of High Speed Rail

• “I would vote for the free enterprise model”  but, “you are stuck upon arriving at the train station to proceed on foot, bus or by taxi to your final destination.”
• “it will bring new business and new tourists to both cities and to College Station.”
• “high-speed rail is a necessity”
• “This is another example of some folks deciding they want their money-making project at the expense of landowners who are forced off their land with no benefit to themselves or to their communities. The court judgment on eminent domain awarded to Trans-Canada/XL Pipeline has opened up land use to anyone who wants it for any private project like power lines, wind farms, pipe lines, high speed rail or any other private business foreign, domestic or combination. This one is Japanese. Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas corridor was Spain and the XL was Canadian.”
• “I smell a backdoor, government-funding rat, I’m always leery of a private concern using the government’s power of eminent domain.”
• “this state needs to move into this century regarding transportation. All over this state, roads are too crowded, and more efforts should be made to improve our transportation systems.”
• “I don’t see any real benefit here.”
• “Waste of money”
• ” If private companies want to build it, let them. Just don’t tie up our money on something that will never be profitable.”
• “It is the future.”
• “it would be easier to take a position if we had detailed cost estimates including confirmed revenue assumptions and sources.”
• “The anxiety of rural communities fearing loss of revenue and farmers arguing against the rail line because it will divide their property should be taken into account, but should not stop the project.”
• ” Of all the high speed-rail projects proposed in the U.S., this has the best chance of working and the state should support this effort, if only to demonstrate what can be done and again show Texas as a progressive state.”

Dallas Morning News