The high-speed train project, which is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100,000 tons per year, is back on track. Photo courtesy of JR Central

In the latest chapter in the saga of the high-speed bullet train between Houston and Dallas, Amtrak is now involved.

According to a press release, Texas Central Partners and Amtrak are exploring a partnership to work together on the proposed Dallas-Houston high-speed rail project that's been under consideration for more than a decade.

Amtrak has cooperated with Texas Central on various initiatives since 2016 and the two entities are now evaluating a potential partnership to determine the line's viability.

“If we are going to add more high-speed rail to this country, the Dallas to Houston Corridor is a compelling proposition and offers great potential,” says Amtrak senior VP of High-Speed Rail Development Programs Andy Byford. “We believe many of the country's biggest and fastest-growing metropolitan areas, like Houston and Dallas, deserve more high quality high-speed, intercity rail service, and we are proud to bring our experience to evaluate this potential project and explore opportunities with Texas Central so the state can meet its full transportation needs.”

The route being proposed would span approximately 240 miles, going at 250 mph, resulting in a trip that would take less than 90 minutes between the two cities.

Texas Central has been working towards getting a train rolling since 2013, including lining up a potential builder in 2021. But the project has had pushback from Texas politicians and landowners along the route; a lawsuit against the project was filed by six rural counties in 2021, and the Texas Legislature passed a law prohibiting the state from spending any funds on the project.

Facing a seeming dead end, Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar and its board members resigned in June 2022; Michael Bui, a consultant, has been serving as CEO since then.

Texas Central and Amtrak have submitted applications to several federal programs in connection with further study and design work, including the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety and Improvements (CRISI) grant program, the Corridor Identification and Development program, and the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (FSP-National) grant program.

Amtrak previously entered into an agreement with Texas Central to provide through-ticketing using the Amtrak reservation system and other support services for the planned high-speed rail line.

"This high-speed train, using advanced, proven Shinkansen technology, has the opportunity to revolutionize rail travel in the southern U.S., and we believe Amtrak could be the perfect partner to help us achieve that,” says Bui in a statement.

Despite its detractors, the project is forecast to provide social, environmental, employment and economic benefits including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100,000 tons per year, saving 65 million gallons of fuel and removing 12,500 cars per day from I-45.

The release from Amtrak has statements from both Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who calls the collaboration between Texas Central and Amtrak "an important milestone for the City of Houston and this project."

Byford joined Amtrak in April 2023 to begin developing a team focused on high-speed opportunities throughout the U.S. In his newly created role, he will develop and lead the execution of Amtrak’s long-term strategy for high-speed rail throughout the country, including the extension of the Crescent from Mississippi through Louisiana and Texas; Kansas DOT’s Heartland Flyer Extension Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) connecting Wichita to Oklahoma and Texas, and TxDOT’s applications for the Texas Triangle (Houston — Dallas – Fort Worth – San Antonio) routes.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Houston cleantech accelerator names 12 startups to 2025 cohort

early-stage accelerator

The Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator has named 12 early-stage startups to its latest cohort.

The hybrid program, which operates in a hybrid capacity based out of the Ion, runs for 10 weeks and provides energy transition startups with training focused on fundraising, pilots, partnerships and sale. It begins July 8 and will be led by executive director Kerri Smith and program director Matthew Peña with support from executives-in-residence Lynn Frostman, John Jeffers, David Horsup and Dev Motiram.

The accelerator will culminate with a demo day on Sept. 18 at the Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum during the Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

Members of this year's cohort come from the Houston area as well as across the U.S. and Canada.

Class 5 for the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator includes:

  • Aqua-Cell Energy, which builds industrial-scale overnight batteries to provide affordable solar power
  • Arculus, a company that provides multilayer internal coating for pipelines that lowers friction, extends pipeline life and enables carbon dioxide transport and hydrogen blending
  • AtmoSpark, a Houston-based sustainable cooling and freshwater company that provides an electric field-driven air separation system that reduces dehumidification energy costs for data centers and industrial facilities
  • AtoMe, which delivers durable metallic composites to energy and aerospace companies using an eco-friendly dry blade method that eliminates harmful chemicals
  • ConceptLoop, a company that converts plastic waste into eco-friendly, low-carbon aggregate
  • Fathom Storage, which provides a more solidly embedded and steel-efficient anchoring solution for offshore service providers, wind energy developers and research institutes
  • GeoKiln, a Houston-based company that addresses issues of subsurface hydrogen extraction by applying proven oil and gas techniques to accelerate natural hydrogen reactions, enabling hydrogen production
  • Innowind Energy Solutions, a company that provides nonintrusive, active flow control devices to boost energy production and extend turbine lifespan
  • Lukera Energy, which transforms waste methane into high-value methanol using a breakthrough nanobubble technology
  • Metal Light Inc., which has developed a scalable, cost-effective Metal-Air generator to replace diesel generators
  • Moonshot Hydrogen, a company that converts food and agricultural waste into clean hydrogen and bioethanol
  • Resollant, a Woodlands-based company that delivers compact, zero-emission hydrogen and carbon reactors to refineries, petrochemical plants, steel and cement manufacturers and fuel producers

The Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator has supported 55 ventures since it was founded in 2021, collectively raising over $250 million in funding, according to the university. See last year's cohort here.

Texas falls lower on national ranking of greenest states for 2025

room to improve

Texas dropped in the rankings on WalletHub's Greenest States 2025 report.

The report, released last month, considered 28 relevant metrics—from air and water quality to the number of alternative fuel stations and green buildings per capita—to call out states doing the best (and worst) jobs of caring for the environment.

Texas came in at No. 42 out of 50, with a total score of 42.54 out of 100. Last year, the Lone Star State ranked No. 38 with a score of 50.40 based on 25 metrics.

Texas' poor ranking was driven by its last-placed ranking, coming in at No. 50, for overall environmental quality. It was tied for No. 45 for air quality and ranked No. 46 for water quality, which helped comprise the overall environmental quality score.

Other metrics fell closer toward the middle of the pack. The state ranked No. 32 for eco-friendly behaviors and No. 39 for climate-change contributions.

California also fell on the annual report. While the state claimed the top spot in 2024, it came in at No. 7 this year. Vermont, which came in second in 2024, was named the greenest state in 2025.

Hawaii, which didn't crack the top five last year, was ranked No. 2 on the 2025 report. New York, Maryland and Maine rounded out the top five this year.

West Virginia was the country's least green state again this year, followed by Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi.

The report also showed that Democrat-led states ranked around No. 12 on average, whereas Republican states fell at around No. 33.

While the WalletHub report seems bleak for Texas, others have shown more positive signs for the state. Texas was ranked slightly above average in a recent ranking of the best states for sustainable development. A recently released U.S. Energy Storage Monitor shows that Texas led all states and surpassed California in the fourth quarter of 2024 by installing 1.2 gigawatts of utility-scale energy storage for solar and wind power.

Still, WalletHub also recently ranked Houston No. 98 out of 100 of the largest cities on its Greenest Cities in America report. Read more here.

Source: WalletHub