WSP USA joins Texas Central HSR team

Texas Central Partners LLC, developers of a proposed high-speed passenger rail line between North Texas and Houston, has contracted with WSP USA for pre-construction engineering support, focusing on engineering, cost estimating and scheduling.

Texas Central cited WSP’s “award-winning experience in designing infrastructure projects. WSP USA, formerly known as WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, is a leading engineering and professional services consultancy whose history in Texas dates back more than a hundred years.”

Contracting with WSP, Texas Central said, “reflects the continued progress of the high-speed train, coming just weeks after Texas Central selected Fluor Enterprises and The Lane Construction Corp. to perform pre-construction planning in which WSP will provide engineering services. The project continues to announce world-class participants as it brings the best talent on board, building toward the expected 10,000 direct jobs each year during construction in Texas.”

“We are excited to partner with WSP, a company that has been involved in many iconic transportation projects around the world,” Texas Central CEO Carlos Aguilar said. “This further demonstrates the attention the Texas Bullet Train has received from world-class firms with such scale and experience.”

Texas Central describes the Texas Bullet Train as “a multibillion-dollar, 240-mile line that will connect North Texas and Houston in 90 minutes, with a midway stop in the Brazos Valley. The investor-owned project, which is not taking federal or state grants for its construction or operations, is bringing in partners familiar with Texas, creating jobs and opportunities here.”

“WSP’s expertise in major infrastructure projects and our team of seasoned professionals position us well to ramp up quickly in support of the Texas Bullet Train. This is a transformational project and we are proud to be part of the project team,” said Joseph Pulicare, President of Transportation & Infrastructure for WSP USA. The firm has “already staffed dozens of full-time personnel on the project to assist Fluor and Lane,” he said.

WSP USA noted that it “has been a part of numerous high-speed rail projects around the world, including Taiwan, California, China, the United Kingdom and, most recently, a high-speed rail system that will connect Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. [Our] history in Texas dates to 1886, when William Barclay Parsons served as chief engineer of the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad. He co-founded the firm that became Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the largest American civil engineering firms. [We have] maintained a continuous presence in Texas since the 1960s.”