In a high-stakes bet on the feasibility of what they believe will be the first truly high-speed rail system on dedicated track in the U.S., two of the country’s most experienced infrastructure developers have agreed to contribute geotech, design and other services to the promoters of a fully private Shinkansen bullet train between Dallas and Houston.

In exchange for those services, valued at $130 million by the promoters, Walsh Group’s Archer Western Contractors and Ferrovial Agroman will get first right to negotiate construction of the civil works portion of the 250-mile project, now pegged to start late in 2017. . .