Rail supplier news from HDR and Balfour Beatty US

HDR Inc. has been selected by the Riverside County Transportation Commission to lead the next major step in bringing daily intercity passenger-rail service between Los Angeles and California's Coachella Valley, according to an HDR press release. The firm will lead the Tier 2 environmental review program for the Coachella Valley Rail Corridor, including the conceptual and preliminary engineering needed to develop project-level environmental clearance. Work on this phase begins this year with a station location study and conceptual engineering to further define the project footprint and support an update to the service development plan. After the service development plan update receives federal approval, the project team will complete the environmental technical studies and prepare and circulate the required documents under the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act. The rail service would introduce multiple daily round trips between Los Angeles Union Station and Coachella, supported by nine stations, a layover facility and infrastructure improvements along a 144-mile corridor. The press release did not include a financial value of the contract. 

Balfour Beatty US and Caltrain recently received awards from the Associated General Contractors of California for the passenger-rail service's electrification project. Caltrain received the Owner of the Year Award, while Caltrain contractor Balfour Beatty received the award for a Heavy Civil Project with a budget over $100 Million and the Excellence in Partnering Award, according to an AGC of California press release. The awards were presented at the AGC's Installation & Awards Gala held last month. Balfour Beatty provided design-build services for the electrification of the 52-mile Caltrain corridor between San Francisco and San Jose. Service on the electrified system launched in 2024. “Electrifying the Caltrain corridor was a challenging task that took the efforts of hundreds of people throughout our organization and those of our partners,” said Caltrain Executive Director Michelle Bouchard in the press release. “Today, that hard work is paying off for tens of thousands of commuters every day, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we were able to achieve together.”