Italy’s leading construction group Webuild (ex-Salini Impregilo) announced on Tuesday it had signed a $ 16 billion mega-contract to build a high-speed train line connecting Dallas and Houston in the US state of Texas .
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It is one of the most important agreements ever won by the Italian group. The project will bring the technology of the Japanese high-speed Shinkansen train to the United States, Webuild said in a statement. Future trains will run on the section between Dallas and Houston at a speed unheard of in the United States of 320 km / h, to connect the two metropolises in less than 90 minutes.
The project, presented as one of the most important in terms of infrastructure in the United States, had given rise in October 2018 to a first preliminary agreement between Texas Central and Webuild which was then called Salini Impregilo. This project “is a pivotal moment for sustainable mobility in the United States, allowing it to join the ranks of countries that offer high-speed rail service, such as Japan, China, France and Italy», Comments Webuild.
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Almost 400 kilometers of railway tracks
The Italian group will be responsible for the civil engineering works, which include the design and construction of 379 km of railway line, viaducts, as well as maintenance services, industrial buildings and train depots. “Much of the railway line will be elevated“In order to”minimize the impact that infrastructure will have on residents and landowners»Areas that the train will pass through.
During the construction phase, according to Webuild, the project will create around 17,000 direct jobs and more than 20,000 indirect jobs. Once the trains are put into service, more than 1,500 permanent direct jobs are planned. Texas Central is a private equity company created for this project which it presents as “the first real TGV” in the USA.
High-speed train projects are struggling to materialize in the United States, where the car is king and the automobile and oil lobbies are very powerful. A line project crossing California from north to south was abandoned in 2019.
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