Texas' Thirteenth Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of Texas Central

DALLAS, May 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Thirteenth Court of Appeals of Texas ruled in favor of Texas Central, holding that it was both a railroad company and interurban electric railway.

The Memorandum Opinion, authored by Justice Nora Longoria, held "Having found that the appellants (Texas Central Railroad and Infrastructure, Inc. and Integrated Texas Logistics, Inc.) are both railroad companies and interurban electric railways, we conclude that the trial court erred by granting Miles' motion for summary judgment and denying appellants' motion for partial summary judgment."

This decision comes after a four-year long court battle waged by landowners along the proposed route in Leon County, Texas. The landowners argued that the Texas Central project was not a railroad and therefore did not have the rights associated with a railroad, including eminent domain and access to property for surveyors.

"This decision is rooted in state law that allows survey access and use of eminent domain by railroads, pipelines, electrical lines and other industries that provide for the public good and a strong economy," said Carlos Aguilar, CEO of Texas Central. "This decision confirms our status as an operating railroad and allows us to continue moving forward with our permitting process and all of our other design, engineering and land acquisition efforts." 

In 2019, Texas Central completed a portion of the land surveys required by the federal agencies conducting an environmental review of the project. This information allowed Texas Central to plan a route that is efficient, considerate of the environment through Central Texas and impacts the fewest property owners. The Final Environmental Impact Statement on the project is scheduled to be published by the Federal Railroad Administration later this month. 

"Texas Central confirms that it will always respect Texas landowners' rights and will follow due process. Texas Central wishes to express gratitude to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals for its time in considering Texas Central's appeal," continued Aguilar.

"Today's ruling supports the enormous amount of work Texas Central has done to date. Texas has the capacity, drive and population growth needed to make the Texas High-Speed Train successful and it's that momentum that is pushing the nation's first high-speed train forward."

About Texas Central. Texas Central is the company undertaking the development, design, construction, finance, and operation of the innovative new high-speed passenger train line that will connect the fourth and fifth largest economies in the country, North Texas and Greater Houston, in less than 90 minutes, with one stop in the Brazos Valley.

Texas Central is a shovel-ready project that expects to create more than 17,000 jobs during construction and a multi-billion-dollar economic impact across the U.S. via contracts for U.S. steel mills and other manufacturers, minority, women and veteran owned businesses throughout the nation and rural businesses along the alignment.

SOURCE Texas Central High Speed Rail