California High-Speed Rail Completes Environmental Review of the 494-Mile Phase 1 System
en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 29, the Board of Directors of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) approved the final environmental document for the approximately 30-mile Los Angeles to Anaheim section, completing project-level environmental review for the entire 494-mile Phase 1 system from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim. The decision was made at the Board meeting held in Anaheim from October 28 to 29, and CHSRA announced it publicly on October 29.
The Los Angeles to Anaheim section approved this time is the last segment of the Phase 1 system to complete environmental review, and its engineering and operating conditions have been clarified in the Board documents. The section extends from Los Angeles Union Station to the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, passes through 12 cities in Los Angeles County and Orange County, and is aligned along the existing LOSSAN rail corridor. High-speed trains will operate alongside existing BNSF, Metrolink, Amtrak, and LOSSAN services, with two trains per hour planned in each direction. The scope of work includes adding one mainline track in some portions of the corridor and electrifying two of the four mainline tracks. This section is not an independently built dedicated high-speed rail line, but rather adds high-speed service on top of the existing corridor, enhancing throughput capacity through localized capacity expansion and electrification.
Environmental review of the 494-mile Phase 1 system has been completed in stages by section, and the approval this time fills the final gap. Sections that had previously completed environmental review include: San Francisco to San Jose (2022), San Jose to Merced (2022), Merced to Bakersfield (in two steps in 2012 and 2014), Bakersfield to Palmdale (2021), Palmdale to Burbank (2024), and Burbank to Los Angeles (2022), totaling 463 miles. With the approval of the Los Angeles to Anaheim section this time, project-level environmental review for the 494-mile Phase 1 system is fully complete.
The completion of environmental review puts the Phase 1 system into a "construction-ready" state, but actual construction will still proceed section by section rather than starting simultaneously along the entire line. More than 90 miles of guideway and 70 major structures have been completed in the Central Valley, and another 22 structures are under construction in the four counties of Madera, Fresno, Kings, and Tulare. The Los Angeles to Anaheim section itself has not yet entered the construction phase, and approval of the environmental document is a prerequisite for its subsequent engineering bidding and construction.
