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    1. Rail

    ACI Selected As Part of Maryland DOT and MTA 30-Year Purple Line Light Rail Contract Award

    March 21, 2016
    ACI has announced that the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) have selected Purple Line Transit Partner PLTP) as the preferred concessionaire for the 36-year Public Private Partnership contract
    Related To: Alternative Concepts Inc. (ACI)

    ACI has announced that the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) have selected Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) as the preferred concessionaire for the 36-year Public Private Partnership contract to design, build, operate, maintain and finance the Purple Line. As part of the PLTP team, a joint venture consisting of  Fluor, ACI and CAF USA and known as Purple Line Transit Operators (PLTO) will provide 30 years of operations and maintenance of the Purple Line passenger service, which is scheduled to commence in spring 2022.

    The Purple Line is a 16-mile light rail line that will connect Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.  The PLTP consortium consists of Meridiam, Fluor Enterprises and Star America.

    “ACI is pleased to be a partner on a world-class, industry-leading team that continues to expand its capabilities in the design, construction, financing, operations and maintenance of rail transportation systems that provide significant mobility solutions by way of complex public-private partnership projects,” said James F. O’Leary, Principal with ACI. “We look forward to an ongoing and beneficial long-term partnership with the MDOT and MTA while providing Purple Line customers with safe, dependable and reliable service.”

    As part of the overall contract, PLTP is scheduled to get the $2 billion construction project underway before the end of 2016.  When completed, the Purple Line will connect communities with 21 stations between New Carrollton and Bethesda.  The system will operate on both a dedicated right-of-way and mixed rail traffic. Purple Line service will provide connections to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority Metrorail, MARC commuter train service and Amtrak.

    Under terms of the contract, PLTO will deliver the operations and maintenance (O&M) services for the Purple Line System. Fluor and ACI’s partnership on the Purple Line will build on their existing partnership to provide 30 years of O&M services on the Denver Eagle P3 Project. Fluor also maintains rail systems in the Netherlands that are part of the Trans-European rail network. CAF maintains more than 4,000 vehicles located in:  Houston, Texas; Zaragoza, Spain; Mexico City, Mexico; and Sydney, Australia; and operates a full-service assembly and manufacturing plant in Elmira, New York.

    To ensure the long-term success of the Purple Line, PLTO will integrate the knowledge base of its partner firms with the expertise gained from other rail start-up operations, including: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Commuter Rail in 2003, Tren Urbano in 2004 (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Valley Metro Light Rail (Phoenix) in 2008, and Houston Metro in 2013.  During the construction and pre-revenue phases, PLTO will provide design reviews for maintainability and operability, support for planning and procedure preparation, and training for vehicle and system maintenance.