NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has unveiled an ambitious plan to build a high-speed rail line from the Rio Grande Valley, through San Antonio and Dallas, all the way to Oklahoma City.

TxDOT officials told local transportation officials that rail is getting more popular and cited the nearly half a million people riding Texas trains last year.

“All of those numbers have been steadily increasing as gas prices have gone up,” explained Jennifer Moczygemba, with TxDOT’s Rail division.

According to Moczygemba the suggested route would be true high-speed rail with no grade crossings and speeds in excess of 125 miles an hour.

The proposed rail line would go through strategic locations and be, “…approximately 950 miles,” Moczygemba said. “It does connect a lot of the metropolitan centers. A lot of the statistics that you hear, a large percentage of the population does live within so many miles of I-35.”

The proposal is still in the early stages and organizers say it’s too early to estimate just how much the project would cost. A preliminary plan is expected to be complete in 2014.

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