CHSRA Board Approves Consortium to Install Electrified Track and Systems
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
(CHSRA)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California High-Speed Rail Authority's Board of Directors approved a team to install electrified high-speed rail track and systems.
The Track and Systems Construction contract covers 119 miles of guideway in the Central Valley and extends north and south into the future Merced and Bakersfield extension. A consortium of Kiewit, Stacy Witbeck, and Herzog will install the train control and communications infrastructure, overhead contact system, and track ahead of transforming the 119 miles of guideway into an electrified high-speed rail system. This system will be capable of speeds up to 220 mph, says CHSRA. The phased structure of the contract allows crews to begin track and system work “as soon as civil construction is completed in each segment.”
This comes after crews finished installing track at the southern railhead facility in Kern County. According to the report, this facility will serve as the staging and distribution hub for high-speed track and systems installation. Now, the facility is able to receive freight deliveries of rail and other long-lead materials such as rail, concrete ties, and ballast that are directly procured by the Authority.
Following a competitive procurement process launched in November 2025, the awarded contract includes commitments to helping small and disadvantaged businesses in California, including a 25% small business participation goal as well as 3% micro business component and 3% disabled veteran business enterprise goal. CHSRA says the contractor certified its commitment to meeting these requirements.
Authority CEO Ian Choudri said, “Bringing on board the team that will build California’s high-speed rail track and systems marks the moment this program transforms from major civil construction into delivering an operating railway. With the railhead track installation complete and many critical rail materials already under contract, we are now accelerating toward installing the first true high-speed rail track ever built in the Western Hemisphere and doing it in a way that delivers for California quickly, and economically.”
As of reporting, 171 miles of the high-speed rail project are currently under design and construction from Merced to Bakersfield with more than 80 miles completed. 60 major structures are completed with 30 more underway. 463 miles of the 494-mile system from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim have been fully environmentally cleared and are ready for construction.
