The news follows an announcement in late 2023 that the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had awarded California’s high-speed rail project with nearly US$3.1bn in federal funding.
The identification of the shortlisted teams is an important step toward the release of the Request for Proposals and procurement of state-of-the-art electrified high-speed trainsets capable of operating at speeds up to 220mph, the authority noted.
“These world-class vendors ensure that we are procuring the latest generation of high-speed trains,” said authority CEO Brian Kelly. “With this recent federal grant, we are able to move forward with this major step on the project, purchasing trains capable of speeds of more than 220 mph to move passengers here in California in a way that transforms the passenger rail experience.”
On August 24, 2023, the authority’s board of directors approved the release of a Request for Qualifications for the trainsets and related services contract. This contract will comply with the Buy America Act, and this procurement will result in a supply-maintain contract for the provision of trainsets, a driving simulator, and related services. The authority anticipates releasing the Request for Proposals in the coming months, followed by award of a contract later this year.
The Trainset and Related Services contract will be funded in part by the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (Fed-State National) Program grant the authority received in December 2023.
The scope of work for the contract is anticipated to include:
- The design, manufacture, storage (prior to conditional acceptance), integration, testing and commissioning of the trainsets;
- Maintenance of each trainset for 30 years and provision of all spares for such trainsets;
- The provision, testing, commissioning, maintenance, and update of the driving simulator;
- Development and provision of design criteria to inform interfaces with the facilities, track, systems, and stations;
- Participating 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 trainset maintenance-related equipment installed in the Heavy Maintenance Facility, Light Maintenance Facility and Trainset Certification Facility (to be built by others).
The authority has begun work to extend the 119 miles under construction to 171 miles of future electrified high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. There are more than 25 active construction sites in California’s Central Valley, with the authority having also environmentally cleared 422 miles of the high-speed rail program from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles Basin.