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CHSRA: Track, Systems Contract Back Out to Bid

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
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In lieu of extending a track and systems procurement again, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has abandoned two existing bids and will restructure and re-bid the project.

CHSRA on Oct. 26 reported it “has opted to let [the bids] expire and restructure [the procurement] to better respond to unstable and volatile supply and pricing in the current market.”

Proposer teams California Rail Partners/Hitachi-Acciona-Copasa and California High-Speed System Partners/Siemens, Weitz, and FCC Construction “have been professional and innovative as we all worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, record high inflation, supply chain uncertainty, and rail industry mergers and acquisitions,” said CHSRA, but “[a]fter careful consideration and given the current economic climate, supply chain challenges, and 40-year high inflation, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has determined it is not in the state’s best interest to extend the time for the track and systems procurement in its current form.”

CHSRA said it will now work to restructure the delivery model for the track, signaling, electrification, and operations control center elements, and expects to rebid the procurement(s) in 2023 “with modifications to maximize global competition, improve pricing and mitigate any schedule impacts.”

In related news, the CHRSA Board of Directors on Oct. 20 announced that it has awarded an approximately $35 million contract to Foster + Partners and Arup (F+P Arup) for design and support services for the Merced, Fresno, Kings/Tulare and Bakersfield stations that will serve passengers on the California high-speed rail project’s initial 171-mile segment (see map below).

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