DB Engineering & Consulting awarded CHSRA early train operator contract

Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
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The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) Board of Directors has approved a contract for early train operator services to DB Engineering & Consulting USA.  

 

The early train operator will aid the CHSRA in its work planning, designing and implementing the first U.S. high-speed rail system.

The contract will be performance-based, with a not-to-exceed amount of $30 million for Phase 1 of the contract. The CHSRA expects to issue a notice to proceed with the contract within the weeks to come.

“[The] board action is a major step forward for California’s high-speed rail program,” said Board Chair Dan Richard. “Bringing on an early train operator during the current design and development phase of the program will allow us to infuse commercial thinking into the design of the system, including station layout, technical specifications and strategies to improve asset performance and control costs.”

Richard also noted the approach of bringing a commercial operator into a design phase is considered unique for major infrastructure work.

DB Engineering & Consulting USA will act as lead operator on the project, with its partner company, Deutsche Bahn AG, acting as a guarantor. DB Engineering & Consulting has enlisted Alternate Concepts, Inc., and HDR, Inc. as sub-consultants.

Deutsche Bahn AG has more than 750 affiliates, with its main companies offering global mobility and logistical services in more than 130 countries.

Deutsche Bahn AG and its subsidiaries offer services in freight transport and logistics, as well as passenger transport. Deutsche Bahn AG is also a joint stock corporation, with its shares held entirely by the Federal Republic of Germany.

The global legal practice Eversheds Sutherland advised DB Engineering & Consulting in its bid to become the early train operator for the CHSRA.

“Proposition 1A, the High-Speed Rail Bond Act, authorizes us not only to construct a high-speed rail system, but requires that the system be a commercially viable enterprise that does not require an operating subsidy,” Richard said. “Many large infrastructure programs are designed and built without sufficient attention to operating needs or operations and maintenance costs.”

Richard added that he believes enlisting an early operator will enable the company to design a system built for ideal commercial performance.

The 2016 Business Plan called for the inclusion of an operator in initial choices regarding safety, operations, equipment and systems, fare structures and schedules, and other commercial and operating aspects.

Employing an early operator will help ensure the system is designed to operate safely, CHSRA said.

With more than 119 miles of active construction being carried out in the Central Valley, initial high-speed rail passenger service is set to take place between Silicon Valley and the Central Valley.

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