Developers of a proposed high-speed train between North Texas and Houston hired Bechtel, a San Francisco-based firm to work on project management services for the 240-mile, $15 billion project.

Bechtel will support Texas Central in managing the Texas Bullet Train project as it moves from development to implementation, perhaps in as little as a year.

The train would be based on Japan's bullet train. Credit: Texas CentralBechtel has completed more than 300 major train and subway projects, including the Channel Tunnel High Speed 1, Crossrail in London, Riyadh Metro and Dulles Corridor Metrorail in the Washington D.C. area.

The announcement is the latest for the project, which envisions a 200-mph train that will connect the state’s largest cities in 90 minutes, with a midway stop in the Brazos Valley.

The train will be based on the N700-I Bullet, the international version of the Tokaido Shinkansen system currently in operation between Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. Project backers say that on the high end, ticket prices will be competitive with the cost of flying, and on the low end, will be competitive with the cost of driving.

Developers also say that the train is backed by investors and that no state or federal grant money will be used. The company says that nearly 50,000 people, sometimes called “super-commuters,” travel between Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth more than once a week, making up the bulk of the train’s potential market.

Texas Central earlier selected Fluor Enterprises and The Lane Construction Corp. to perform pre-construction planning with engineering support from WSP, an engineering and professional services consultancy.

Texas Central, Fluor, Lane and WSP are refining and updating construction planning and sequencing, scheduling and cost estimates, as well as other design and engineering activities. The Federal Railroad Administration’s recently released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the project outlined a single, preferred route between North Texas and Houston and identified passenger station locations. The FRA is expected to complete a final environmental review that will help determine the project’s timeline and exact route before construction work begins.