Amtrak’s $60 million Texas Central Grant Yanked (2025)

In a move that should surprise no one, the Trump administration is clawing back more than $60 million in funds that had been awarded to Amtrak to help make Texas Central’s long-delayed Houston-to-Dallas bullet train finally become a reality.

“I am pleased to announce that FRA [Federal Railroad Administration] and Amtrak 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,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in his gleeful announcement of the grant’s cancellation on Monday.

It’s a marked change in tone for the federal government, you might say.

Way back last year it seemed like the much-debated, long-delayed plan to construct a bullet train that would tote people from Houston to Dallas in just 90 minutes was finally gaining some momentum.

After having been declared mostly dead, with the dissolution of its board and the abrupt resignation of its CEO back in 2022, Texas Central itself was showing signs of life, with new investors, a new CEO and Amtrak officials showing genuine interest in partnering up to finally fully develop and maybe even actually build the highspeed rail line.

The Biden administration had awarded Amtrak the $63.9 million federal grant through the Department of Transportation to allow the quasi-public corporation to get rolling on actually planning the 240-mile-long shinkansen rail line.

The move made sense. After all, President Joe Biden himself – known for commuting between Delaware and Washington D.C. for much of his time in the U.S. Senate — was always a big fan of Amtrak and trains in general. On top of that backing the Houston-to-Dallas line aligned with the administration’s goal of improving transportation systems, and this particular route, mostly flat and not requiring any sharp turns, has long been touted as practically perfect for a bullet train line.

But that was way back before President Donald Trump was sworn back into office in January, kicking off an ongoing process of fundamentally reorienting – if not outright cutting – much of the federal government’s priorities and programs.

Echoing the sentiments of the Texans Against High Speed Rail and lawmakers in the Texas Lege and others who live in Grimes County and other more rural sections of the state that the line would cross, Duffy contended that the project — proposed back in the late 2000s as a private venture – shouldn’t be allowed to use federal funds.

“If the private sector believes this project is feasible, they should carry the pre-construction work forward, rather than relying on Amtrak and the American taxpayer to bail them out,” Duffy stated.

Meanwhile, it’s looking even less likely than ever that the state will step in and help Texas Central get off the ground.

Earlier this month, state legislators filed a bill that will block Texas Central from using local or state funding for the project. Not satisfied with that, the same lawmakers also subpoenaed Texas Central representatives about its financial backing, which is slated to be held on Thursday.

In spite of all of this, Kleinheinz Capital Partners, the main investor in Texas Central, are maintaining a downright sunny response, calling Duffy’s actions “good news for the overall project.”

“We agree with Secretary Duffy that this project should be led by the private sector, and we will be proud to take it forward,” the company contended in a statement. “This project is shovel-ready and will create significant new jobs and economic growth for Texas as part of President Trump’s efforts to boost the U.S. economy.”

While it’s a bit of a stretch to call the project “shovel ready” considering they still only have about 25 percent of the land required to actually build it, this response sure makes it seem like Texas Central wasn’t shocked to see the grant clawed back.

It remains to be seen if they have more funding tricks up their sleeves.