The Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) has appointed the Aecom-led consortium Portal Connectors to provide management and construction oversight for the Downtown Rail Extension project. This is an extension of Caltrain commuter rail service to the centre of San Francisco. The project, known as The Portal, will extend Caltrain services from its current terminus at Fourth and King streets to the Salesforce Transit Centre, which will also serve as the future terminus of the high-speed rail (HSR) line from Los Angeles through the Central Valley. The 2.1 km extension will be constructed primarily underground and will run under Townsend and Second streets. An underground transit station at Fourth & Townsend and an underground terminus at the Salesforce Transit Centre are planned. The extension is expected to serve around 90,000 passengers a day and provide connections to 11 public transport networks in the Bay Area. The Portal Connectors consortium will be responsible for providing a range of programme management and project oversight services, assisting the Authority in obtaining FTA funding, finalising the procurement strategy and activating collaborative delivery models, as well as designing and constructing the underground stations and integrating The Portal with existing rail operations.
