Texas Central signs design-build contract to build Texas high-speed train
Posted: 16 September 2019 | Global Railway Review | 1 comment
The joint-venture contract has brought the beginning of construction for the Texas Central high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas one step closer.
The Texas train will be based on Central Japan Railway’s Tokaido Shinkansen train system
Texas Central, the developer of the high-speed train project, has announced that a design-build contract has been signed with the joint venture of Salini Impregilo, spA (one of the largest civil engineering contractors in the world) and its U.S. subsidiary, Lane Construction Company. Salini-Lane is to supply the civil and infrastructure scope for the new high-speed train service between Houston and Dallas. This includes the design and construction of the viaduct and embankment sections along the entire route, the installation of the track system and the alignment and construction of all buildings and services that will house maintenance and other rail system equipment.
This design-build agreement authorises a set of early works for the joint venture to continue advancing engineering design, detailed planning, interface definition and other key prerequisites necessary to start construction. This agreement is the result of their previous work providing front-end engineering and design for the train’s civil infrastructure. Other services included optimising execution plans, strategies and logistics, as well as performing analysis to develop construction costs and schedule estimates.
Carlos F. Aguilar, CEO of Texas Central, said: “This agreement brings us one step closer to beginning construction of the civil infrastructure segments of the project. Salini-Lane’s unmatched track record with rail infrastructure, and very specifically its world-class high-speed rail expertise across the globe, will be central to the completion of America’s first end-to-end high-speed rail system.”
Pietro Salini, CEO of Salini Impregilo Group, said: “We are thrilled and honoured to bring our large-scale railway expertise to this unique opportunity. This inclusion in bringing a high-speed train service to Texas and America, through leading the project’s design and construction, is an invaluable experience.”
The Texas train will be based on Central Japan Railway’s Tokaido Shinkansen train system, the world’s safest mass transportation system. The new Shinkansen N700S, which is the sixth generation of this train and will be debuted before the summer 2020 Olympics. The system has transported more than 10 billion passengers in over 54 years with a perfect record of zero passenger fatalities or injuries from operations, and an impeccable on-time performance record.
Robin A. Kemper, P.E., President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said: “With increasing congestion on our highways and airways, it is important that we look at alternative modes of transportation.”
The project’s total investment is expected to be approximately $20 billion with the civil works estimated at $14 billion. This would conservatively lead to an estimated $36 billion in economic benefits state-wide over the next 25 years, including the creation of 10,000 jobs per year during peak construction and 1,500 permanent jobs when fully operational. Texas Central and its partners are committed to the Business and Workforce Opportunity programmes, created to ensure a highly-skilled workforce and promote the growth of Texas-based small, rural, minority-, woman-, veteran- and disabled individual- owned businesses by offering fair and competitive opportunities to bid and participate in building and operating the Texas high-speed train.
Related topics
High-Speed Rail, Infrastructure Developments, Rolling Stock Orders/Developments, Track Construction
This project will never be financially viable. It is simply a vehicle for the project promoters to create mixed use transit oriented development next to the 3 stations. The stations are basically glorified parking garages with small retail shops and a hotel. The temporary jobs to be created from this construction activity and the few permanent jobs will not compensate for the lost economic development resulting from the harm done to thousands of acres of productive land caused by the alignment. Japanese and American taxpayers are about the get fleeced by the billionaire organizers of this project, who are rent seekers and are manipulating the US agencies to do this project. Japan’s perfect safety record for the Shinkansen wont be perfect any more once the train experiences some Texas tornadoes or track heat buckling due to high temperatures.