The T Board approves pre-construction services and rail vehicles contracts for TEX Rail

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

The Board of Directors of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) approved two contracts related to TEX Rail.

 

The TEX Rail commuter rail will run on a 27-mile corridor from downtown Fort Worth, northeast across Tarrant County to Grapevine and into Terminal B at Dallast Fort Worth Airport. It will have a projected average daily ridership of 10,000 in its initial year of service.

The T Board authorized a contract with Archer Western/Herzog Joint Venture (JV) for pre-construction services to work closely with the project’s design team in order to achieve a more efficient and cost-effective design that has been planned and coordinated with TEX Rail’s various stakeholders.

“This contract for pre-construction services is very important because it will lay the groundwork for future construction,” said Paul Ballard, The T president and chief executive officer. “It will help isolate and mitigate any construction risks, costs and schedule concerns and will make TEX Rail construction more effective and efficient.”

The T Board also authorized an agreement with Stadler Bussnang AG for the purchase of eight diesel multiple unit (DMU) rail vehicles.

“The T began the procurement process for DMU Vehicles in 2014 due to the three year average lead time for developing specifications, production, delivery and operation training for staff,” Ballard said.

Once the order has been provided, vehicle assembly will be in North Texas.

The T Board also approved an Action Item for Final Design for two North Richland Hills stations – the Iron Horse Station and the Smithfield Road Station and moved forward on land purchases for the TEX Rail project.

 

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