This is the first part of a two-step procurement process. The authority anticipates getting Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) from prospective trainset manufacturers in November 2023. Once received, the authority will evaluate the SOQs and create a shortlist of qualified teams capable of delivering high-speed trainsets and release a Request for Proposal in the first quarter of 2024 to qualified teams.
“Our action allows us to deliver on our commitment to meet our federal grant timelines to start testing,” said board chair Tom Richards. “This is an important milestone for us to deliver high-speed rail service in the Central Valley and eventually into Northern and Southern California.”
This trainset procurement process will allow the authority to procure six trainsets capable of operating at 220mph and tested up to 242mph; receive two prototypes in 2028 to support static/dynamic testing and trial running; and receive an additional four trainsets by the end of 2030 to support revenue operations on the 171-mile Merced to Bakersfield section.
“These trainsets ensure that we are procuring the latest generation of high-speed trains for this first-in-the-nation project,” said authority CEO Brian Kelly. “We look forward to working with members of the industry as we strive to develop a market for high-speed trains in the United States.”
The scope of work for the contract is anticipated to include the design, manufacturing, storage (before conditional acceptance), integration, testing and commissioning of the trainsets; maintenance of each trainset for 30 years and provision of all spares (i.e., interchangeable parts of a trainset) for such trainsets; the provision, testing, commissioning, maintenance and update of a driving simulator; and the development and provision of design criteria to inform interfaces with the facilities, track, and systems.
The contract is also expected to include participation in the testing and commissioning of the facilities, track, systems, and stations; the development and provision of information as required to support the certification and subsequent commissioning of the trainsets; and the operation and maintenance of the Heavy Maintenance Facility, Light Maintenance Facility and Trainset Certification Facility (to be built by others).
California High Speed Rail is an 800-mile, 220mph electrified statewide high-speed rail system, which once fully complete will connect San Diego to Sacramento and San Francisco. The project is being completed in phases, with the first phase – the main spine of the system – now under construction in the Central Valley.
The authority has also begun work to extend the 119 miles under construction to 171 miles of future electrified high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. There are currently more than 30 active construction sites in California’s Central Valley, with the authority now having environmentally cleared 422 miles of the high-speed rail program from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles Basin.