By KENTA NAKAMURA/ Staff Writer
April 16, 2025 at 13:52 JST
A bullet train station is planned in this area of Dallas, Texas. (Yuko Lanham)
A problem-plagued train project based on Shinkansen technology in the U.S. state of Texas suffered an additional setback when the Trump administration terminated a grant for the high-speed rail plan.
The Transportation Department is withdrawing a $63.9 million (9.1 billion yen) grant awarded to the project under the Biden administration, according to an April 14 announcement.
“The project capital cost is now believed to be over $40 billion, making construction unrealistic and a risky venture for the taxpayer,” a department statement said.
The announcement came five months after a Japanese public-private investment fund retracted financial assistance for the project in November.
The project calls for building an approximately 385-kilometer high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston.
Construction was originally scheduled to start in 2017. But it has been substantially delayed as the operator, Texas Central, failed to attract private-sector investors.
The company defaulted on debts, and National Railroad Passenger Corp., known as Amtrak, expressed a willingness to take over.
The U.S. government decision has further clouded the outlook of the project.
Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), which is offering the Shinkansen technology, said it will closely monitor the situation, including the impact on the project.
JR Tokai said it does not expect major losses if the project is scrapped because the company is not providing financial assistance.
Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport and Urban Development, an investment fund under the transport ministry, withdrew its financial assistance after reporting 41.7 billion yen in losses in fiscal 2023.
The transport ministry planned to recoup investments by selling land and other properties the fund had acquired to Amtrak, which received the federal government grant.
Ministry officials said the U.S. government’s decision will have a limited impact because they are considering a different way to recover investments.
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