Nearly two years after first awarding a design-build contract for its privately funded high-speed Dallas-to-Houston railway, Texas Central Railroad LLC announced that the final project agreement has been signed, finalizing its cost at $16 billion. The agreement, with Lane Construction Corp. and its parent and joint-venture partner, Italy's Webuild Group, moves the project to the advanced design stage, with construction now expected to start in late 2021 or early 2022.
The contract agreement follows a June 18 decision by the Texas Supreme Court not to hear landowners' appeal of their eminent domain lawsuit, although other challenges remain. After full notice to proceed, the project will have a six-to-seven-year base construction schedule, Erin Ragsdale, Texas Central spokeswoman.