USA: Dallas – Houston high speed rail project promoter Texas Central Railroad has signed a $1·6bn contract for Kiewit and its Mass Electric Construction subsidiary to install the core electrical systems for the proposed line.
This would include the traction power, signalling and communications equipment for the 385 km route, which would be modelled on Central Japan Railway’s Tokaido Shinkansen. JR Central is one of the backers of the project, and intends to supply an export variant of its N700S high speed trainsets which would initially operate at 300 km/h with the potential for 330 km/h running.
In November 2019 Texas Central had announced an early contractor involvement agreement for Mass Electric to the define the scope, implementation plan, scheduling and pricing of the railway equipment fit-out part of the project.
‘Kiewit and Mass Electric are national leaders in installing complex and large-scale electric systems and have long track records of delivering high quality rail systems safely and effectively’, said Texas Central Railroad CEO Carlos Aguilar when the electrical systems contract was announced on May 3. ‘Combining their experience with the safety of an integrated system is essential to the operation of the Texas Central Railroad. Signing this contract is the next step in making the Texas Central Railroad the first high speed rail system to be implemented in the United States.’
