A group of Texas officials, including eleven Republican state legislators, are making a new effort to put a stop to high-speed rail travel in Texas. Thirty-three East Texas officials sent a letter to the Japanese ambassador to the United States on Monday, reports The Texas Tribune. In the letter, they expressed their opposition to a private Texas firm's proposed high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston. They approached the ambassador because the Texas firm in charge of the project has strong ties to a Japanese company.
Critics have been trying to scuttle the effort since Texas Central Partners announced the multibillion-dollar project in 2012. The Texas company says it would run 62 daily high-speed trips between Dallas and Houston. Opponents complain that the train doesn’t make enough stops between the two cities. Texas Central says it still plans to start selling tickets in five years.