AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Central is once again the subject of unwelcome attention from Texas legislators.
The state House Transportation Committee on Thursday (April 3) voted to subpoena financial documents from the company, KBTX-TV reports, saying a Texas Central representative did not sufficiently answer questions about finances, management, and foreign backing for the proposed Dallas-Houston high-speed rail route.
The subpoena followed testimony from Andy Jent, who was representing the company in a hearing on House Bill 2003. That legislation would require companies to provide detailed information to the Texas Department of Transportation annually on its methods of financing, estimated costs, projected ridership, route, an organizational chart, and disclosure of current or planned foreign investment.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine), who is also the sponsor of a bill that would prohibit state or local government funds from being used to alter roadways to accommodate a high-speed project [see “Texas legislation on roadways …,” Trains News Wire, April 2, 2025]. That bill would amend 2017 legislation barring any use of state funds for a privately owned or operated high-speed rail line.
In a Monday hearing on the roadway bill, Jent said the company had a new CEO, John Kleinheinz; online information identifies him as CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners, and shows Jent as dealing with “private equity and special situations” for Kleinheinz Capital.
On Thursday, as he was asked for financial details, Jent told the committee, “We just don’t have the answers that you’re seeking. Give us time to put this stuff together.” He said the company had recently bought out its Japanese partners, but was still determining its structure after acquiring the project in January. “We’re simply trying to figure out how to get this done right,” Jent said.
That did not mollify committee members, with Rep. Caroline Harris Davila (R-Round Rock) saying she didn’t understand “why you have a concern with providing this information to Texans,” and Rep. Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) saying, “the fact you don’t possess [the information] is significant to these Texas who are impacted by it and who are seeking disclosure under the bill.” Little then suggested the committee issue a subpoena for the information, a motion approved unanimously.
Texas Central had been largely moribund since 2021, having stopped updating its website and responding to inquiries. That website’s only significant new posts since 2020 are two press releases. One of those is Amtrak’s announcement in 2023 that it was entering into a partnership with the company to pursue development of the route; at that time, Michael Bui was identified as the Texas Central CEO. [See “Amtrak working with Texas Central …,” News Wire, Aug. 9, 2023]. An online article identified Bui as senior managing director at FTI Consulting, and the mailing address for Texas Central was the same as that of FTI Consulting. That address is still on the company’s website.
I support the IDEA of Texas Central. However, I also support more transparency of all proposals for any project including this project. Just thinking of ‘Enron, Madoff, ETC.
Unfortunately, the elites are going to be less transparent to us peons not less.
I can tell you one reason that we would agree this project hopes to achieve tax payer help. The route between Houston and Dallas and maybe Ft Worth is the most heavily populated and therefore expensive route to obtain and make the line profitable. And,the people in the heavily populated route are familiar with the excessive costs and fees that would be demanded and therefore builders want financial help from the state. Texas legislature allowed those who build toll freeways to hit a gold mine with the ownership of those roads and got the taking of all profits for up to 50 years. We don’t want such a rip off again. Secondly, the builders would be taking right of way land by eminent domain which is supposed to be only for the state, city, and counties not to promote wealth for others.
What’s the problem with “foreign investment”? Without foreign purchase of United States debt, the U.S. government would’ve collapsed from the weight of its debt decades ago.
I seem to be one of the few people posting on these pages that believes Texas Central is one big scam.
Whats the difference between an idea with no funding, and an idea that has no merit?
Mr. Rice, you just defined government!