Selection marks latest addition of industry expertise on Houston-to-North Texas line
Texas Central, developer of the high-speed train between North Texas and Houston, announced an agreement Wednesday, May 2, with Bechtel to work together on project management services, a news release announced.
As part of the collaboration, Bechtel will support Texas Central in managing the Texas Bullet Train project as it moves from development to implementation.
“We’re putting all of the elements together, building toward the expected 10,000 direct jobs each year during construction in Texas,” Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar said in the release. The addition of Bechtel, with its experience in train and mega-infrastructure project experience, is another sign of the expertise this project is attracting and leveraging.”
No stranger to the industry, over the past century Bechtel has completed more than 300 major train and subway projects, including the Channel Tunnel High Speed 1, Crossrail in London, Riyadh Metro and Dulles Corridor Metrorail in the Washington, D.C., area.
Texas Central’s announcement is the latest significant step forward for the investor-led 200-mph train project that aims to connect the state’s largest cities in 90 minutes, with a midway stop in the Brazos Valley.
Bechtel has about 2,000 employees in Texas, and is known for its global expertise in managing and constructing high-speed train infrastructure.
“We look forward to using our international high-speed train experience to progress this transformative project in the United States,” Scott Osborne, Bechtel’s Infrastructure general manager, Americas, said in the release. “The high-speed connection between Houston and North Texas will begin a new era of travel and convenience for riders.”
The partnership follows Texas Central’s selection of Fluor Enterprises and The Lane Construction Corporation to perform pre-construction planning with engineering support from engineering and professional services consultancy WSP.
The previously announced partners in the innovative project are known for their global expertise in construction projects, infrastructure planning and international rail development. Teams of technical experts continue working on the project every day as the environmental assessments, engineering, design and other work enters a new phase.
According to the release, Texas Central, Fluor, Lane and WSP are refining and updating construction planning and sequencing, scheduling and cost estimates and other design and engineering activities, while being guided by the Federal Railroad Administration’s recently released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the project.
The DEIS for the first time outlined a single, preferred route between North Texas and Houston, identified passenger station locations and recognized the train system’s low-impact design and construction principles, the release explained.
Additionally, the statement said the train would “alleviate the strain” on Texas’ infrastructure and “is needed to accommodate growing demand.”
Before construction begins, the FRA will complete a final environmental review that will help determine the project’s timeline and route.