USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has selected an AECOM-Fluor joint venture to provide programme management support for its planned Los Angeles – San Francisco corridor, where construction of the initial 270 km section between Merced and Bakersfield is already underway in California’s Central Valley.
The Program Delivery Support services contract announced on November 10 is valued at not more than $400m over four years. It replaces an earlier Rail Delivery Partner contract, which expired at the end of June but has been extended to provide a transition period. The PDS contract also includes provision for an optional extension.
Procurement for the contract began in February. The AECOM-Fluor consortium, which includes Atlas Technical Consultants, Egis Rail, Turner & Townsend, McMillen Jacobs Associates and Jaquith Consulting Group, was preferred over a rival bid from Connect CA Partners, which included Bechtel Infrastructure Corp and Mott MacDonald.
The consortium members will provide a range of support for programme planning and strategy, environmental and engineering management, infrastructure delivery, supply chain management and federal and state funding.
‘The authority is not just advancing a major rail project, but creating a new way of travel in the US that is faster, more convenient and more sustainable’, commented Jennifer Aument, Chief Executive of AECOM’s global Transportation business. ‘Driving that change is hard work, and we are committed to working every day to support the authority in making this transformational program a reality.’
‘We are pleased to partner with the California High-Speed Rail Authority to deliver one of the most transformative infrastructure programmes in the nation’, said Thomas Nilsson, President of Fluor’s Infrastructure business. ‘This groundbreaking project will not only connect regions throughout California contribute to economic development and create jobs, but also help the state meet its carbon neutrality goals while preserving agricultural and protected lands.’
