3 Firms Bid On Second Phase Of High-Speed Rail

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Three firms are bidding to build the second leg of California's $68 billion high-speed rail system, which will run from Fresno to Bakersfield.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority says three joint construction ventures submitted sealed bids by Thursday's deadline.

The contract to design and build the second, 60-mile phase is expected to be worth $1.5 billion to $2 billion. But the cost of each of the bids submitted Thursday will be kept secret while state officials review their technical merits.

The groups that submitted bids are: Dragados/Flatiron/Shimmick; Golden State Rail Partnership; and Tutor Perini/Zachry/Parsons, which is building the first 28-mile leg. That section stretches from Madera to Fresno.

Federal authorities signed off on the Fresno-to-Bakersfield route earlier this summer.