Duffy Cancels Grant For Texas High-Speed Rail Project

The Texas Tribune reports:

President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday terminated a federal grant to help fund a long-sought high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston — saying that if the embattled project moves forward, it will have to do so without federal help at this stage.

The U.S. Department of Transportation nixed a $63.9 million planning grant for the proposed Texas Central route under an agreement between the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the two agencies “are in agreement that underwriting this project is a waste of taxpayer funds and a distraction from Amtrak’s core mission of improving its existing subpar services.”

Read the full article. Dallas and Houston are both deeply blue. Last week Texas state GOP reps introduced a bill that would defund existing mass transit in Dallas and Austin.

Thousands of jobs. Cleaner transit. Less traffic. A direct line from Dallas to Houston.

That’s what this project could’ve meant for Texas— but instead, the Trump Administration shut it down. https://t.co/aUGT2okCDA

— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) April 15, 2025