Citi, Mitsubishi Tapped to Raise Money for Texas Rail

(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group are joining the push for a Texas high-speed train to connect Dallas and Houston.

The banks, selected as financial advisers, will lend their heft to fundraising efforts for the investor-driven project, underscoring the different approach Texas is taking after a government-funded rail plan in California collapsed.

Texas Central would cut the trip between Texas’ two largest metropolitan areas to 90 minutes, compared with a drive that takes more than four hours. Commuters would also be able to forgo the long security lines and potential delays at airports that lengthen travel time for the half-hour flight.

The project still faces big obstacles, such as securing the land rights to build the track. But it’s taking a different path from California, which has signaled it’s scaling back its plan to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco with high-speed rail after a series of delays and cost overruns. The state is focusing for now on completing just 120 miles of track that was already under construction in the Central Valley.

For Texas Central, Citi will be the lone global coordinator and lead financial adviser. MUFG will act as co-global financial adviser, Texas Central said in a statement. The two financial groups will assist in securing the debt and equity to finance the project.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Black in Dallas at tblack@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Susan Warren, Tony Robinson

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