The head of a company planning to build a high-speed passenger rail line between Dallas and Houston announced his departure from the effort, and the company's board of directors was recently disbanded, but those involved claim the plan is still moving ahead despite this and other setbacks.

The board of Texas Central Partners disbanded within the last month, says Richard Lawless, who had been chairman emeritus. He said he remains involved as a shareholder representative as the company is repositioned.

曾担任总裁兼首席执行官的卡洛斯·阿吉拉尔（Carlos Aguilar）宣布他已离开公司LinkedIn postJune 12 following reporting by Spanish business news outletLaInformación该公司的大多数管理团队都离开了该项目。

他写道：“虽然我无法将目前的利益相关者符合前进道路的共同愿景，但我希望该项目取得最大的成功，并坚信这项事业对所有德克萨斯人的安全和繁荣的重要性。”

It was not immediately clear who would succeed Aguilar. For now, Lawless says the company is being managed by迈克尔·布伊, a senior managing director at FTI Consulting who specializes in “liquidity forecast development, business plan development and analyses, collateral evaluations and recovery assessment and contingency planning,” according to his company biography, and who has advised various clients through events like distress, bankruptcy, reorganization and sale.

FTI在一份声明中说：“德克萨斯州中央合作伙伴有限责任公司及其员工已经与FTI Consulting的一支经验丰富的团队合作了几个月，以继续在创新项目上进行工作，以将其高速旅客火车运送到德克萨斯州。”

如前所新利18备用述，计划对于该项目，要求建造约236英里的轨道加上站和其他相关设备。该公司表示，在达拉斯和休斯顿之间的高速服务中，仅需90分钟即可到达。

去年，德克萨斯州中央（Dexas Central）宣布与Kiewit基础设施South Co.和Mass。ElectricConstruction Co.签订了16亿美元的合同，用于核心电气系统安装，并与Lane Construction Corp.和Webuild签订了160亿美元的合同，以作为作为服务。设计建造线索。德克萨斯州中部还宣布西班牙火车运营商Renfe是其计划中的铁路的早期运营商。

The proposal has faced several setbacks. As ENR previously reported, the companylaid off2020年，近30名员工指责了Covid-19-19大流行。这项努力还遭受了为期一年的法律斗争，因为其为该项目获得土地的努力。该案目前已在德克萨斯州最高法院审理，该案件取决于德克萨斯州中央是否根据该州的运输法则将“铁路公司”视为“铁路公司”，这将决定是否可以使用杰出的领域来获取土地。

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sided against the company’s use of eminent domain, and three U.S. representatives from Texas recentlyfiled a briefsupporting the landowners in their legal fight against the railroad. The court is expected to rule within the next several weeks.

“Mr. Aguilar’s departure does not have any effect on the pending appeal in the Texas Supreme Court,” Texas Central said in a statement. “It should not impact the timing of the court’s decision or the court’s ruling.”

该计划的反对者质疑得克萨斯州中央的财务状况。沃勒县法官特雷·杜恩（Trey Duhon）也是德克萨斯集团董事会主席反对高速铁路，他说该公司似乎没有资金或资源来建立该项目。

Securities and Exchange Commission记录显示，德克萨斯中央合作伙伴于2015年从私人投资者筹集了7500万美元。2018年，日本国际合作银行同意向公司贷款高达3亿美元。一月份，德克萨斯州中央的一名律师在法庭听证会上表示，该公司筹集了超过4亿美元。

Meanwhile, Texas Central’s projected cost of its plan has risen from $12 billion to $20 billion to $30 billion. In April, a court filing by officials from several counties said Texas Central waslate paying超过60万美元的财产税。尽管该公司的领导层已承诺，该项目将在去年秋天全部私人资助，而当Aguilar出现在客人身上Texas politics podcast去年秋天,he said Texas Central may need to borrow $12 billion through a program funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“Now it looks like they’re pretty much dead in the water,” Duhon says. “The ship’s going down, and the captain is jumping ship.”

即使德克萨斯州中央赢得了法院案件，杜恩说，该集团可能会将此事提交给立法者，以防止在没有运营铁路的情况下使用杰出的铁路来获得铁路土地，这可能会影响他人未来的努力创办新的铁路公司。

“There should be more to it than just calling yourself a railroad,” he says. “In certain instances, private entities do have that authority and power [of eminent domain]. But those instances should be scrutinized, and they should be very tightly regulated.”