USA: The Transbay Joint Powers Authority has selected the AECOM-led Portal Connectors team to provide programme management and construction management services for the long-planned extension of Caltrain commuter rail services into central San Francisco.
Downtown Rail Extension
Branded as The Portal, the Downtown Rail Extension project would see Caltrain services extended from the current terminus at Fourth and King Streets to the Salesforce Transit Center, which is also intended to serve as the future terminus of the California High-Speed Rail corridor from Los Angeles via the Central Valley.
The 2·1 km extension would mainly be built below ground, running beneath Townsend and Second Streets using a mix of cut-and-cover and mined tunnelling methods.
An underground through station would be provided at Fourth & Townsend, as well as the sub-surface terminus at the Salesforce Transit Center, where the city’s historic Transbay terminal has already been replaced by a modern complex as the first phase of TJPA’s $12bn Transbay Program.
The extension is expected to serve an average daily ridership of around 90 000 passengers, providing connections with 11 Bay Area public transport networks.
Tier 1 project
According to TJPA, The Portal has been endorsed as a Tier 1 project in the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Bay Area 2050 plan, and recognised as a ‘project of national and regional significance’ within the federal SAFETEA-LU programme.
It was included in Project Development phase of the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grants Program from December 2021, and the authority is now seeking to progress to the second phase, which would lead to a Full Funding Grant Agreement.
In May the federal government committed to provide $3·4bn for the project, which would cover around two-thirds of the projected cost. Local funding will be provided through Regional Measure 3 and various sales tax initiatives. An initial $500m has been allocated in the federal government’s FY2025 budget to fund the ongoing preparatory works. Design is reported to be around 30% complete, and subject to confirmation of the funding TJPA anticipates that the Downtown Rail Extension could open for revenue service in 2032.
Portal Connectors
The Portal Connectors team will be responsible for delivering a range of programme management and project supervision services, supporting the authority in obtaining FTA funding, finalising the procurement strategy and activating collaborative delivery models, as well as designing and building the underground stations and integrating The Portal with existing rail operations.
‘AECOM has been proud to support the TJPA since the inception of the Transbay Program, and we’re thrilled to help deliver the next phase of this transformative investment’, commented Mark Southwell, Chief Executive of AECOM’s global Transportation business.
‘Our world class tunnelling capabilities and fully integrated service offerings address all aspects of large-scale tunnel projects, making us well positioned to deliver this crucial work that will serve as a lynchpin for the region’s long-term transit needs.’
