DALLAS — The departure of Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguliar came as a news report from Spain said the company’s managerial team has departed and it lacks the necessary financing.
Aguilar announced Sunday he was departing the company via a LinkedIn posting [see “Texas Central CEO steps down,” Trains News Wire, June 14, 2022].
Aguilar’s statement referred to “news reports in the international press;” La Información, a news site based in Madrid, reported earlier this month the Texas Central project is in “hibernation” as it seeks financing, and that the managerial team had left. The project is of interest in Spain because Spanish firm Renfe signed a contract in 2021 to serve as “early operator” of the high speed rail line [see “Texas Central signs operating agreement …,” News Wire, July 15, 2021].
The website Bond Buyer reports the project was estimated to cost $10 billion when it was announced in 2012, but that has since escalated to $30 billion, with the company seeking a $12 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan, which would be more than five times larger than any previous RRIF loan. Three legislators from Texas — U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady, Jake Ellzey, and Michael McCaul, all Republicans — have argued that Texas Central is ineligible for an RRIF loan because its planned use of Japanese Shinkansen high speed technology violates federal Buy America rules.
Other news reports have indicated Texas Central owes more than $600,000 in property taxes.
The Bond Buyer also reports a group opposing the rail project, ReRoute the Route, says the “nearly insolvent” project has failed to raise 98% of its needed funding.
A report from political news site The Texan, founded by a former Republican legislator, notes the Texas Central website no longer lists any executive team members. It also quotes an email from Judge Trey Duhon, a board member of the rail project’s most vocal opponents, Texans Against High Speed Rail. Duhon wrote that Aguilar’s announcement on LinkedIn “speaks to the company’s lack of staff, lack of resources, and lack of leadership, with no successful path forward. … It is abundantly clear that this project is more than dead in the water, especially when the captain jumps ship.”
Aguilar’s departure also comes as the Texas Supreme Court considers a case, Miles vs. Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure, to determine whether the project has the ability to acquire property through eminent domain. The Bond Buyer says that ruling is expected this month.
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