Webuild: green light for High-Speed Rail in Texas

• Texas Supreme Court affirms Texas Central right to acquire land through eminent domain

• Critical decision for $16-billion mega-contract signed last year by Webuild and subsidiary Lane

MILAN, June 27, 2022 - A U.S. high-speed train is coming closer to becoming a reality. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Texas Central LCC and affirmed its right under Texas law to acquire via the established eminent domain process land needed to build a railway for high-speed travel between Dallas and Houston. Texas Central is the company in charge of developing the project. Webuild and its subsidiary Lane will build all of the civil works, valued at $16 billion.

The contract, signed last year, foresees the design and construction of 379 kilometres of high-speed railway that will enable trains to travel between Dallas and Greater Houston in approximately 90 minutes. It would be the first genuine high-speed rail service in the United States and would guarantee passengers a means to travel in a safe and sustainable way at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour. The contract includes the construction of the track system, the viaduct and embankment sections, the buildings for maintenance services, as well as train yards and warehouses. Half of the line will be along a viaduct, benefitting from Webuild's in building bridges.

The project will provide an enormous boost to sustainable mobility in the United States, which will join other countries that today offer public transport at high speeds, such as Japan, China, France and Italy. The train will be based on the Tokaido Shinkansen of Central Japan Railway, the safest mass transit system in the world.

The construction of the line will create 37,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, and once the trains come into service, more than 1,500 direct jobs.
The line, which would be one of the biggest infrastructure projects under development in the United States, would benefit at least 100,000 commuters who every week travel by air or car between Houston and Dallas. This means 101,000 tonnes of fewer CO2 emissions.

Webuild and Lane bring to the project an expertise that comes from the construction of more than 13,600 kilometres of rail and metro lines. Webuild is currently working on some of the most important high-speed rail projects in Italy, such as the lines that will connect Naples and Bari, and the Terzo Valico dei Giovi-Genova Junction, a high-speed/high-capacity line between the port of Genoa and Milan and other industrial centres elsewhere in Europe.