LOS ANGELES — The California High-Speed Rail Authority board of directors has approved the final environmental report for the 80-mile Bakersfield-Palmdale section of the project, the first portion in Southern California to receive clearance under the California Environmental Quality Act. The move sets the stage for clearance of the full 500-mile San Francisco-LA/Anaheim route under the state law.
“Today’s approval represents another major milestone for this project as we move the project into Los Angeles County,” CEO Brian Kelly said in a press release. “We appreciate the collaboration with our local and regional partners as we work to build a clean, electrified high-speed rail system that will connect our state for generations to come.”
The board’s approval of the environmental document and project section allows pre-construction work to begin as funding becomes available, and reaffirms the high speed authority’s goal of completing the environmental process for the full San Francisco-Southern California route by 2023.
The newly approved section would connect the Central Valley, where construction is progress, to Palmdale, where commuter rail service to Los Angeles currently exists and the plan accommodates a proposed connection to the Brightline West high speed rail project to Las Vegas, Nev.
The First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in six years with 1860s technology and more manual labour.
They did not have to contend with the CEQA process and NIMBYs (other than local Indians).
There was also a long period of planning, discussions, arguments etc before construction of the transcontinental railroad started.
This is the section that should have been done first since it actually will connect a dead end route in Bakersfield to LA without using the slow and curvy old grade. All they needed to do was extend the current Amtrak service along this route for now and upgrade for high speed on the other parts later.
Yes, reroute some of the Amtrak San Joaquins down the new HSR at 125mph to Bakersfield and then Palmdale. This out of the way route to LA would generate ridership for completing the difficult and expensive portions south to LA and N&W to San Jose.
I love California High Speed Rail.
I want California High Speed Rail.
What year is the California high speed rail going to be completed?
When is the California high-speed rail going to be completed?
Never.
If one is not a large proponent of CalHSR, then they probably will not have a lot of positive things to say. Some people say it once, some need to say it everytime Trains runs another byline on it.
New issue – the proposed Palmdale connection – brought up in this article so I have a new reaction to post. I’ve not commented on Palmdale before.
If CalHSR keeps coming up with new spin, I will comment on the new spin.
Do you ever have anything positive to say about anything?
Better be careful, those kids are on your lawn.
Do I have ever anything positive to say about anything., you ask. I have absolutely nothing positive to say about CalHSR and i never will. I could say a whole lot positive about California’s enormous additions to the once skeletal Amtrak map. I could say a whole lot positive about the Hiawatha, my local train. I could say a whole lot positive about METRA. I could say a whole lot positive about MBTA’s reboot of frequent Old Colony trains where in the 1970’s there wasn’t even a grade, let alone track. I could say a whole lot positive about MBTA’s frequent trains to Framingham and Worcester, compared to the three or so train pairs inherited from Penn Central.
But Mike if you expect me to say anything positive about CalHSR, it’s going to be a very long wait. You and I will both be long gone and forgotten before I’d say anything good about that fiasco.
The last paragraph is pure spin, lipstick on a pig. CalHSR isn’t HSR if it depends on a Metrolink connection from the furthest end of Metrolink into LA.