Texas Central picks Northwest Mall location for Houston bullet-train station

The Texas Central bullet-train developers announced yesterday that the Houston rail station will be located at Northwest Mall near the interchange of Interstate 610 and U.S. Highway 290.

The terminal will be situated in a high-growth area with access to employment centers and the downtown, Texas Central officials said in a press release.

Although final designs are pending, plans call for a multilevel station on a 45-acre site. The station will link "seamlessly" with other forms of transportation.

Matthews Southwest will develop the station project. The mall site is the preferred choice because it will have minimal environmental and community impacts, Texas Central officials said.

"We look forward to helping create a new community that will also bring a transportation asset to all Houstonians," said Jack Matthews, president of Matthews Southwest. "We are excited to work in an area with so much potential for vibrancy, including transit-oriented development."

The Federal Railroad Administration's recently released draft environmental impact statement outlined three station options in northwest Houston. Studies show the center of Houston's population base is growing north and west of the Central Business District.

The site is the third station location announced in recent weeks. Last week, Texas Central unveiled plans for the Dallas station to be located on 60 acres south of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Earlier in January, the company unveiled details for a station in Grimes County, which will be the only midway stop on the proposed 240-mile Houston-to-Dallas high-speed rail line.