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Rail News: High-Speed Rail
2/3/2011
Rail News: High-Speed Rail
Alstom's Mehlman outlines priorities for company's North American HSR efforts
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Guillaume Mehlman might new to Alstom Transport’s high-speed rail business, but it’s an area he’s become quite familiar with during the past several years.
Last month, the company announced it had appointed Mehlman as managing director of Alstom North America to oversee the French company’s high-speed rail and positive train control efforts. Mehlman previously served six years as the head of Alstom’s global truck business, including two years overseeing Alstom’s manufacturing center in Le Creusot, France.
“Being in the truck part of the organization gave me an opportunity to work with all the regions, customers and rolling stock, because we were delivering all the product lines,” he says. “That gives me a broad vision of Alstom’s transportation lines, and it gives me good access to the organization globally.”
Mehlman will build on that background as he works to familiarize himself with North American transit agencies and state departments of transportation, and their contracting and procurement habits.
In the near term, he’ll also be putting a lot of focus on Florida’s proposed high-speed rail project between Tampa and Orlando. Alstom is part of a consortium that plans to bid on the project, which currently is being assessed by Gov. Rick Scott, who has concerns about how much money the state might have to front for the project.
“We’ll deploy our efforts in terms of communication and lobbying to convince stakeholders of the benefits of high-speed rail projects,” says Mehlman. “Specifically for Florida, the business models that are being considered are very interesting because they are innovative and allow for a split of responsibilities and risks. We have to be very convincing during the next few months to get that message across.”
If Scott does give the project the official go-ahead, Mehlman will devote his energies to selling Alstom’s strengths to Florida Rail Enterprise officials. The firm is part of a consortium that also includes France’s Vinci Concessions; Spain’s OHL USA; the United States’ PBS&J, AECOM, Hubbard Construction and Archer Western Contractors; and the United Kingdom’s Virgin Group and Virgin Rail Group.
The group provides a good mix of local and international players that have high-speed rail experience, says Mehlman, adding that he believes Alstom is well positioned to obtain U.S. high-speed rail contracts because it manufactured the only high-speed train currently operating in the country — Amtrak’s Acela.
“We still have a lot of people, both in Europe and the United States, that were involved in that project and we can build on that expertise,” he says. “We’re looking to address future high-speed rail projects in a similar fashion — understanding the FRA requirements, adapting our private technology to those requirements and localizing a significant share of those projects in the U.S. That’s what we see as key in bringing high-speed rail to the U.S.”
But before Alstom and other high-speed players can boast their expertise, they need at least one U.S. high-speed (as in, greater-than-125 mph) project to advance into the construction phase.
“As these projects go forward, proposals with concrete, innovative ideas will come forward about financing, sharing risks and phasing construction in a smart way,” says Mehlman. “I think that will make very compelling and convincing statements to the public that projects can be funded and can go all the way in a relatively short time span.”
It would go a long way toward creating more public support of high-speed rail in the United States, says Mehlman, who’s seen the benefits and success of high-speed rail in other countries firsthand. He’s also confident in the direction the United States is taking to create a nationwide high-speed rail network.
“We have no doubt about the relevance of the corridors that have been identified. They are clearly relevant in terms of the need for mass transportation as a means of relieving congestion in areas that already have saturated infrastructure and in terms of economic development,” he says, adding that the Florida project — which has a chance to become the first high-speed line constructed under the High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program — presents “a unique opportunity to test the industry and see the business relevance of these projects.”
— Angela Cotey
Last month, the company announced it had appointed Mehlman as managing director of Alstom North America to oversee the French company’s high-speed rail and positive train control efforts. Mehlman previously served six years as the head of Alstom’s global truck business, including two years overseeing Alstom’s manufacturing center in Le Creusot, France.
“Being in the truck part of the organization gave me an opportunity to work with all the regions, customers and rolling stock, because we were delivering all the product lines,” he says. “That gives me a broad vision of Alstom’s transportation lines, and it gives me good access to the organization globally.”Mehlman will build on that background as he works to familiarize himself with North American transit agencies and state departments of transportation, and their contracting and procurement habits.
In the near term, he’ll also be putting a lot of focus on Florida’s proposed high-speed rail project between Tampa and Orlando. Alstom is part of a consortium that plans to bid on the project, which currently is being assessed by Gov. Rick Scott, who has concerns about how much money the state might have to front for the project.
“We’ll deploy our efforts in terms of communication and lobbying to convince stakeholders of the benefits of high-speed rail projects,” says Mehlman. “Specifically for Florida, the business models that are being considered are very interesting because they are innovative and allow for a split of responsibilities and risks. We have to be very convincing during the next few months to get that message across.”
If Scott does give the project the official go-ahead, Mehlman will devote his energies to selling Alstom’s strengths to Florida Rail Enterprise officials. The firm is part of a consortium that also includes France’s Vinci Concessions; Spain’s OHL USA; the United States’ PBS&J, AECOM, Hubbard Construction and Archer Western Contractors; and the United Kingdom’s Virgin Group and Virgin Rail Group.
The group provides a good mix of local and international players that have high-speed rail experience, says Mehlman, adding that he believes Alstom is well positioned to obtain U.S. high-speed rail contracts because it manufactured the only high-speed train currently operating in the country — Amtrak’s Acela.
“We still have a lot of people, both in Europe and the United States, that were involved in that project and we can build on that expertise,” he says. “We’re looking to address future high-speed rail projects in a similar fashion — understanding the FRA requirements, adapting our private technology to those requirements and localizing a significant share of those projects in the U.S. That’s what we see as key in bringing high-speed rail to the U.S.”
But before Alstom and other high-speed players can boast their expertise, they need at least one U.S. high-speed (as in, greater-than-125 mph) project to advance into the construction phase.
“As these projects go forward, proposals with concrete, innovative ideas will come forward about financing, sharing risks and phasing construction in a smart way,” says Mehlman. “I think that will make very compelling and convincing statements to the public that projects can be funded and can go all the way in a relatively short time span.”
It would go a long way toward creating more public support of high-speed rail in the United States, says Mehlman, who’s seen the benefits and success of high-speed rail in other countries firsthand. He’s also confident in the direction the United States is taking to create a nationwide high-speed rail network.
“We have no doubt about the relevance of the corridors that have been identified. They are clearly relevant in terms of the need for mass transportation as a means of relieving congestion in areas that already have saturated infrastructure and in terms of economic development,” he says, adding that the Florida project — which has a chance to become the first high-speed line constructed under the High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program — presents “a unique opportunity to test the industry and see the business relevance of these projects.”
— Angela Cotey
