(28/09/2017) 

Renfe is leading the Spanish offer with Globalvia as a partner and Adif and Amtrak (the biggest rail operator for passenger transport in the US) as the sole subcontractors, in addition to a series of small Californian companies which specialise in the engineering, technology and transport fields. The Spanish consortium is thus making the most of local knowledge and skills, which are key to create a local industry that boasts expertise in railways in general and high-speed trains in particular.

Renfe is competing against three other international consortiums led by China Railway International, German public operator Deutsche Bahn, and Italian state operator Trenitalia in alliance with First Group. British operator Stage-Coach, which did participate in the initial pre-qualification phase, has finally dropped out of the process.

Contract

The contract will include several aspects related to operations and previous preparation of the planning, design and construction of the railway system in order to guarantee the feasibility of high speed and the start-up of the operation.

The winning operator will be in charge of the business model, taking part in all the decisions and providing advice regarding the design, development and definition of strategic, operational and business aspects of high speed. The bidders are competing to operate CHSRA first section, the line between Silicon Valley and Central Valley (V2V), and its subsequent extension from San José to San Francisco.