The line will connect the cities of Dallas and Houston in Texas in 90 minutes, unprecedented in the country where the car reigns supreme.
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 .
The final agreement on this project, one of the most important ever won by the Italian group, was initialed by Webuild, its American subsidiary Lane Construction and the investment holding company Texas Central.
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.
A “pivotal moment” for the United States
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 “constitutes a pivotal moment for sustainable mobility in the United States by allowing it to join the ranks of countries which offer high-speed rail service, such as Japan, China, France and Italy”, comments Webuild .
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 rail line will be elevated” to “minimize the impact that infrastructure will have on residents and landowners” of the areas 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 privately owned company created for this project which it describes as “the first real high speed train” in the United States.
17,000 direct jobs
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.
The Spanish railway company Renfe announced in February 2020 that it had won a $ 6 billion contract with Texas Central to help it develop and subsequently operate the railway line.
Webuild is involved in major projects worldwide, such as two sections of the Grand Paris Express (lines 14 and 16) and the largest hydroelectric power station project in Australia, Snowy 2.0. He participated in the construction of the new Genoa bridge and that of the second Panama Canal.
Webuild’s board of directors had approved in March the 100% acquisition of its counterpart Astaldi, number two in the sector in Italy, thus giving birth to a construction giant which should see the light of day by August.
By including in its accounts the acquisition in November of Astaldi, Webuild recorded in 2020 a turnover of 5.02 billion euros. On a twelve-month basis, combined revenue is estimated at $ 6.4 billion.
With the acquisition of Astaldi, Webuild has 70,000 direct and indirect employees. The Salini family will remain the largest shareholder of the future together, with a 40.4% stake.
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