Design-Build Contract Signed With Salini Impreglio

News, Project Updates

ANOTHER MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT FOR TEXAS HIGH-SPEED RAIL

On the heels of the recent regulatory announcement on the RPA, we’re excited to announce another major accomplishment. We’re pleased to share that we have signed a design-build contract with the joint venture of Salini Impregilo, one of the largest civil engineering contractors in the world, and its U.S. subsidiary Lane Construction Company. Salini Impregilo is active in more than 50 countries on five continents, with experience building more than 4,000 miles of railway infrastructure around the world – in Australia, Europe, Asia and the Americas.

As part of the design-build scope, Salini-Lane will supply the civil infrastructure work for the new high-speed train service between Houston and North Texas.  This includes the design and construction of the viaduct and embankment sections along the entire route, the installation of the track system and construction of related buildings and services along the route that will house maintenance and other rail system equipment.

“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.”
Carlos F. Aguilar, CEO, Texas Central

Salini Impregilo has built many high-speed train projects in Europe and iconic, complex projects around the world within the wider transportation sector, including the expansion of the Panama Canal.

“We are thrilled and honored to bring our large-scale railway expertise to this unique opportunity. This inclusion in bringing high-speed train service to Texas and America, through leading the project’s design and construction, is an invaluable experience.”
Pietro Salini, CEO Salini Impregilo Group

The project will create an estimated $36 billion in economic benefits statewide over the next 25 years, including the creation of 10,000 jobs per year during construction and 1,500 permanent jobs when fully operational.  Texas Central and its partners are committed to the Business and Workforce Opportunity programs, created to ensure a highly skilled workforce and to 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.

Again, we thank everyone for their continued support and we’re proud to say this is the next step to #BuildThisTrain.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the Design-Build Agreement?

Under this agreement, Salini-Lane will lead a joint venture to supply the civil infrastructure scope of design, construction and installation 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 along the route that will house maintenance and other rail system equipment.

Why was Salini selected?

Salini brings global experience in building railways which will be combined with Lane Construction’s knowledge and experience in major infrastructure projects in Texas.

Salini Impregilo is active in more than 50 countries on five continents, with experience building more than 4,000 miles of railway infrastructure around the world – in Australia, Europe, Asia and the Americas. It has built many high-speed train projects in Europe, and some iconic, complex projects in the global transportation sector, including the expansion of the Panama Canal. Salini has worked in the U.S. since the 1980s and expanded its presence in 2016, merging with The Lane Construction Corporation, a U.S.-based company with almost 130 years of experience in infrastructure work.

What high-speed rail projects does Salini work on currently or have completed?

Salini was involved with continental Europe’s first high-speed railway connecting Rome and Florence.

Salini is currently active in the construction of: the Red Line in Doha, Qatar (one of the largest infrastructure developments in the Middle East); Line 3 of the new metro in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; San Francisco’s Metro Line; and Cityringen, Copenhagen’s new metro.

What is different about today’s news and the Salini announcement made in October 2018?

Since last year’s Limited Notice to Proceed (LNTP) agreement, Salini-Lane has focused on front-end engineering, design and planning of the train’s civil infrastructure. Services included optimizing execution plans, strategies and logistics, as well as performing analysis to develop and optimize construction costs and schedule estimates. That work helped to develop this design-build contract.

How will Salini’s hiring process work? Are they committed to hiring Texans?

Texas Central and its partners are contractually committed to our Business and Workforce Opportunity program, created to ensure a highly skilled workforce and promote the growth of 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. Current open positions at Texas Central can be found here.

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