(TEXAS SCORECARD) – Nine Dallas City Council members and staff have flown to Japan to tour high-speed rail systems with the hope of bringing something similar to their city.
WFAA reports that the itinerary for the council members’ and staff’s stay in Japan shows stays in luxury hotels, meetings with U.S. embassy officials and the minister of foreign affairs, tours of Japan’s rail facilities, a dinner and presentation with rail officials, and a ride on a bullet train from Tokyo to Nagoya.
One estimate puts the cost of the trip close to $50,000, all of which will be funded by revenue from the city’s hotel occupancy tax.
“Our team will gain invaluable insights into the technical, economic, and social aspects of high-speed rail. This knowledge will enable us to make informed decisions on how best to integrate this transformative technology into Dallas,” Interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert told WFAA in a memo.
“This visit is essential for understanding how a high-speed rail system can be tailored to meet Dallas’s unique needs and contribute to the city’s long-term economic growth and vibrancy.”
An economic development study has been approved by the Dallas City Council–at a cost of $566,000–to look into the possibility of building a high speed rail connection between Dallas and Houston.
“You need to understand fully what we’re possibly getting into. The vast majority of us have used high speed rail or been around it,” Dallas Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Omar Narvaez told the Dallas news network.
“We have got to get this and we have got to get this right,” he added.
Several Dallas City Council members have voiced that they want to wait until the report is finished before moving forward with any plans for the railway. The study will take approximately one year to complete.