CA High-Speed Rail OKs $3.5B contract that puts laying first tracks on new timeline
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Rail board awarded a contract of up to $3.5 billion for Valley track construction.
- Work on first 22 miles is set to begin by Nov. 30.
- Work begins near Shafter and moves north to Fresno.
After more than a decade of construction in the Central Valley, the California High-Speed Rail Authority could be fewer than six months from laying the system’s first tracks.
The rail authority’s board on Monday awarded a track and systems construction contract of up to $3.5 billion to an operation between rail and engineering contractors Kiewit, Stacy Witbeck and Herzog. The joint venture is expected to do the track work between Merced and Bakersfield in various phases that will each require board approval.
The board’s new chair, Steve Kawa, described the award as a turning point for a project that has been slow to clear environmental rules, acquire the necessary right-of-way and build out infrastructure.
“Today the conversation changes,” he said during the meeting. “Track and system construction is the moment this project truly begins to become a railroad.”
California voters first approved $9.95 billion in bonds for a Los Angeles-to-San Francisco system initially projected to cost $45 billion. The rail authority today is focused on first completing a 171-mile Merced-to-Bakersfield route by 2033 for $34.76 billion on the low end.
When will contractor start laying Central Valley tracks?
The rail authority expects work to begin on the first 22 miles that are ready for tracks — a space between the Shafter area and the Tulare-Kern County line — by Nov. 30.
That work is expected to be completed by June of next year, rail authority Chief of Construction Ed Fenn said during the meeting. From there, track work will advance north toward Fresno until it is complete on the initial 119 miles between Shafter and Madera County.
In recent months, the rail authority started awarding contracts to manufacturers who will be shipping track and system materials — including overhead poles, rails, ballast and more — to the agency’s 150-acre railhead yard near Wasco. From there, the materials will be moved north as needed.
Rail board members concerned about single bidder for track contract
Though the process for choosing the track construction contractor was competitive, only the joint venture that was chosen actually bid a price to the rail authority. The only other bidder was disqualified for failing to show it had at least one key personnel who was a professional engineer registered in this state.
Board member Jeffrey Worthe said during the meeting he was concerned whether “locking ourselves” into a single bidder is a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.
The contractor’s work will be broken into nine packages, each requiring board approval. Fenn, the rail authority’s construction chief, said this strategy allows the agency to “ensure we have the proper pricing going forward for each package.”
“We always have the opportunity to off ramp, but that’s certainly not what we want to do,” he said. “We have to trust that our partners are going to come to terms with us.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 3:00 PM.
