USA: One of the two consortia developing concepts for a high capacity public transport link through the Santa Monica mountains between Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley and Westside has selected the companies which would supply driverless metro trains and control systems should its proposal go ahead.
In 2021 the Los Angeles Metro board awarded Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners a Pre-Development Agreement contract to develop a concept for a driverless metro.
The LA SkyRail Express consortium was awarded a similar contract to develop a straddle monorail alternative.
STCP comprises Bechtel, Meridiam and American Triple I as equity members. Bechtel would serve as lead contractor, supported by Mott Macdonald, TY Lin and Systra.
The consortium announced at the end of July that it had selected Stadler Rail to supply the trains and Siemens Mobility the signalling and control equipment should its proposal be selected.
ATI Managing Partner David J Cibrian said the companies ‘not only stood out to us because of their long-standing individual track records and their having already successfully partnered based on their individual achievements, but also based on their multiple joint successes together in various transit projects globally.’
Meridiam Americas CEO Nicolas Rubio said the selection ‘goes beyond our Buy America commitment’, and ’we wanted to make sure that we are assembling an infrastructure dream team when it comes to operating swift and safe rail service that allows commuters to avoid the 405’.
SCTP had previously selected RATP Dev to develop an operations and maintenance concept.
