MILAN, February 14, 2020 – Salini Impregilo is accelerating preparations towards the execution phase of the contract with Texas Central to construct the high-speed railway in Texas, once federal approvals are received. Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of Salini Impregilo, met in Italy with Carlos F. Aguilar, Chief Executive of Texas Central, the company behind the project to build a high-speed train service between Dallas and Houston, to discuss the next steps for the construction of the first line of its kind in the United States, 379 kilometers long for a total estimated investment of $20 billion.

The high-speed train project in the United States, which promotes sustainable mobility in Texas thanks to Salini Impregilo’s expertise in delivering successful megaprojects worldwide, was announced last September with the signing of a design-build contract for the preliminary works of the project with a joint-venture formed by Salini Impregilo and its U.S. subsidiary, Lane Construction Corp. The civil engineering works for the new high-speed train service between Houston and Dallas includes the design and construction of the viaduct and embankment sections along the entire route, the installation of the track system and the alignment and construction of all buildings and services that will house maintenance and other rail system equipment.

The line will transform mobility between the two cities with the greatest growth rates in the country. The train, which will be based on Central Japan Railway’s Tokaido Shinkansen system, the world’s safest mass transportation system, will link Dallas and Houston in 90 minutes, with service intervals of 30 minutes at peak times. It will have one intermediary stop in the Brazos Valley near Texas A&M University. It is expected to be 90 minutes faster than car travel and one hour faster than air travel considering boarding times.

The project is also expected to conservatively lead to an estimated $36 billion in economic benefits state-wide over the next 25 years, including the creation of 10,000 jobs per year during peak construction and 1,500 permanent jobs when it becomes fully operational.

Salini Impregilo is active in more than 50 countries on five continents, with experience building more than 4,000 miles of railway infrastructure around the world – in Australia, Europe, Asia and the Americas. It has built many high-speed train projects in Europe, and some iconic, complex projects in the world in the wider transport sector, including the expansion of the Panama Canal. Salini has worked in the United States since the 1980s and expanded its presence in 2016, merging with Lane, a U.S.-based company with almost 130 years of experience in infrastructure work.