On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Texas Central railroad business, upholding the company’s right to eminent domain—the legal process whereby land is taken from its rightful owners—to do so.
James and Barbara Miles of Leon County sued Texas Central over five years ago, arguing that the company lacked the legal authority to divide their 600 acres in half and take a portion of it for the construction of tracks because the newly established high-speed rail project did not have eminent domain.
Texas Central, according to Miles, is not a legitimate railroad business or interurban electric railway, two categories of organizations that have historically been awarded eminent domain rights in Texas.
According to Patrick McShan, an attorney for the Miles family, “They are a high-speed rail – that’s what they intend to build.” The issue for them is that high-speed train firms were not given eminent domain authority by the law.
Therefore, they don’t want to be what they are; instead, they want to be one of these other two things and use eminent domain to force their way into those other two things.
The judges, however, agreed with Texas Central on Friday.
Dr James Rogers, a political science professor at Texas A&M, noted that while most people are initially shocked to learn that private firms have permission to use eminent domain, this practice has been legal for several decades.
This statement was made in response to the decision of Texas Central’s Houston partnership.
We have been and will continue to support Texas Central Railroad’s plan to build a high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas, and we commend the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Texas law regarding eminent domain and allowing the project to move forward.
The court stated in its ruling that Texas Central had made good-faith efforts to establish its status as a full-fledged railroad company, including investing more than $125 million, employing consultants, and contracting with hundreds of properties.
Peter Cody, the president of Texas Rail Advocates, who has long backed the Texas Central project, offered the following comments on the subject:
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He is quoted on the nonprofit’s website as saying, “Imagine a start-up company that wanted to construct a pipeline, a new electric utility to provide power, or a new cable or telephone company that required eminent domain authority.
“They would be excluded because they lacked a pipe in the ground or a wire on a pole as of yet. Doesn’t that convey the chilling message that Texas is not a place we want you to conduct business?
In addition to the fact that hundreds of Texans in the Brazos Valley and elsewhere have already been pressured to sell their land, opponents of the project point out that Drayton McLane Jr., a board member, and CEO Carlos Aguilar, who left Texas Central earlier this month, are indications that the company is doomed, according to the Miles family and many others.
