ACS has launched into the race for one of the largest projected infrastructure contracts in the world. The group headed by Florentino Pérez is among the five candidates to develop and build the Sepúlveda Transportation Corridor, in California (United States). The claim is to connect the San Fernando Valley with the West of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with a high-speed train line. The total project budget is estimated at around 9,500 million dollars (more than 8,500 million euros).
ACS concurs through ACS Infrastructure Development. The Spanish multinational competes with the consortium composed of Tutor Perini, Parsons and Plenary, LA SkyRail Express, by the Chinese manufacturer BYD, Bechtel and Fengate.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will select only two of the candidates to submit a firm proposal with which to help them develop the public-private partnership project and, where appropriate, become the builder and infrastructure operator. With this, he wants to relaunch a work in which he has been working for several years. In fact, in 2017 he already chose Cintra (Ferrovial), on the one hand, and Parsons, on the other, to develop an initiative that intended to be in operation before 2027. However, this process declined and now a new one is opened in the that the group chaired by Rafael del Pino no longer participates.
The new deadline is set for 2033, although the objective is to accelerate the procedures to try to advance it even to 2028 and thus be able to have that year of service during the Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles.
With this infrastructure, the authorities seek to alleviate traffic on the 405 motorway, through which more than 300,000 vehicles circulate per day and which will have expected to grow by almost 50% in 2025, to 447,000.
ACS wants to grow in California
ACS seeks with this megaproject to increase its presence in the United States, its main market in the world, and more specifically in California. In this State, the company led by the president of Real Madrid, together with its German subsidiary Hochtief and in alliance with Fluor, Balfour Beatty and Bombardier was awarded almost two years ago the contract for the construction and operation for 25 years of the new system Automatic passenger transport from Los Angeles airport, with a value of 1,950 million dollars (1,570 million euros). It is an elevated railway line, at a height of between 15 and 20 meters, and 3.6 kilometers in length, through which an automatic train without a driver will circulate, which will transport passengers between the airport terminals, its parking and the tram stop.
For the financing of the project, for more than 8,500 million, the participation of various US public institutions is planned.
ACS puts on sale its Australian mining subsidiary Thiess for 1.9 billion