METRO INKS HISTORIC DEAL TO EXPAND LIGHT-RAIL SYSTEM

The ink is now dry on a historic contract to expand Houston’s light-rail system.

During today’s board meeting, METRO President & CEO Frank J. Wilson announced that the contract with Parsons Transportation Group – the largest in the agency’s history - has officially been signed.

Early last month METRO’s Board of Directors approved the $1.46 billion dollar construction contract that is projected to generate some 60,000 direct and indirect jobs before the four light-rail lines, approximately 20 miles, are completed.

As the facility provider, Parsons Transportation Group will be responsible for designing, building, operating and maintaining the four new light-rail lines: North Line, East End Line, Southeast Line and the Uptown Line.

METRO will spend $632 million for the initial phase of the contract, which is expected to create 25,000 jobs and will include:

• Utility work for the North and Southeast Lines
• Build and complete the East End Corridor, including an overpass at Harrisburg for light-rail and construction of a Service and Inspection Facility
• 29 rail cars from CAF USA, Inc.
• Final alignment and station configuration for the Uptown Line

Local small and minority business owners will receive 35 percent, or $335 million in work under the contract.

In the frail economy we find ourselves in, where transit agencies across the country have been cutting service and/or raising fares, METRO is doing the contrary. The agency is moving full steam ahead, ready to carry out its ambitious light-rail expansion plan – one that will employ thousands and infuse money into the local economy.

As the fourth largest city in the U.S., and with a booming population, Houston is ready to upgrade and expand its transit system and become a more mobile city.