California High-Speed Rail

[dragonsky]

Nevada high-speed rail panel moving forward with XPressWest

During a three-hour meeting Wednesday, the five-member Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority unanimously selected XpressWest as the state’s franchisee for constructing a high-speed rail system that connects Las Vegas with Southern California. Four applicants competed with XpressWest’s bid but authority officials were in agreement that its proposal was the only one that met their evaluation criteria.

XpressWest officials said they could start construction as early as fall 2016. The project aims to link Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

The board, created in May by Senate Bill 457, was charged with selecting a private developer to operate the rail system and was required to evaluate the applications based on the completion of environmental studies, level of private investment, pending regulatory permits, and how far the applicant is from the start of construction. XpressWest is now required to provide the board with progress reports twice a year. The board, in addition to reviewing the progress, can also help facilitate intergovernmental partnerships.

The initial phase of the XpressWest project, which will link Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif., will cost $8 billion. “In high-speed rail terms, most projects are a lot more expensive than this,” said Nick Hann, an executive at the Macquarie Group working with XpressWest.

The line will mostly run adjacent to Interstate 15, offering roundtrip service for under $100. The project’s second phase will link Las Vegas with Palmdale, via the Victorville station. Riders will then be able to connect with Metrolink to take the train to Los Angeles. In its last phase, XpressWest plans to link its system to California’s high-speed rail. Its technology is interoperable with California’s.

Earlier this month, the Las Vegas-based XpressWest project, formerly named DesertXpress, announced a $100 million investment from a consortium of state-owned Chinese companies. XpressWest officials said they do not plan to seek public funding from the state.

At Wednesday’s meeting, XpressWest’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Mack said China Railway International, the firm that has committed the $100 million, has a “deep and proven track record in building and operating and financing high-speed rail.”

Construction and implementation of the project is expected to take about five years, with both the Las Vegas to Victorville line and the Victorville to Palmdale line finished at the same time.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/nov...orward-with-x/

[dragonsky]

Not much has changed from the original XpressWest proposal. It still contemplates as its first phase 185 miles of dual tracks with no grade crossings between Las Vegas and Victorville, roughly along the Interstate 15 right-of-way.

The second phase would extend the track west from Victorville to Palmdale where it would intersect with existing commuter rail service.

Eventually, that commuter rail would be upgraded to high-speed rail when the California High-Speed Rail system is completed. Finally, in the third phase, XpressWest trains would link directly to the California line.

Andrew Mack, chief operating officer of XpressWest, told the authority board that records of decision for environmental permits have been completed for the Las Vegas-Victorville phase and a final environmental impact statement drafted by Caltrans on the Victorville-Palmdale phase is expected to be approved in April.

That means construction on both phases could begin by fall and be completed in five years.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/busines...ngs-xpresswest



http://www.lamag.com/driver/high-spe...-getting-real/

[dragonsky]

The California High-Speed Rail Authority and the city of Burbank have entered into a station-area funding agreement to begin the planning process to develop a multimodal transportation hub.

http://www.hometownstation.com/santa...station-166025

[dragonsky]

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[dragonsky]

Work starts soon on high-speed rail trench into downtown Fresno

Motorists on Highway 180 through downtown Fresno will start seeing the effects of high-speed rail construction in July as crews begin building a trench that will take the bullet-train tracks beneath the freeway.

The 40-foot-deep trench is the first underground construction for California’s high-speed train system. The two-mile long trench, from Roeding Park to about Stanislaus Street in downtown Fresno, will go under the freeway as well as a San Joaquin Valley Railroad line and an irrigation canal.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority reports that the initial work will include improvements to the shoulders of Highway 180 between G and H streets.

http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/...e86262842.html

[dragonsky]

Construction For The California High-Speed Rail Is Chugging Right Along

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (“CHSRA”) issued a press release with the status of its construction work for the high-speed rail project (the “Project”) at seven active sites in the Central Valley. Many of the Project’s segments in Madera and Fresno are beginning to see development; the foundation has been established in several sections, rebar cages to form columns have been tied, and steel and concrete girders to rebuild the Tuolumne Street Bridge have been put into place.

The CHSRA’s realignment of State Route 99 from Clinton to Ashlan, is also underway to make way for the Project. As of March 31, 2016, the Finance and Audit Committee announced that the CHSRA has acquired 28 properties along State Route 99 through negotiated contracts or stipulated orders of possession. As of the last Finance and Audit Committee in May 2016, an additional 16 properties still need to be acquired by the CHSRA to complete the realignment of State Route 99.

http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/con...ia-high-70579/

[dragonsky]

Bullet train route across Big Tujunga Wash meets growing opposition

The Big Tujunga Wash, among Southern California’s most powerful and least developed rivers, is at ground zero of a growing political battle over the route the California bullet train would take as it enters the Los Angeles basin.

The wash carries more than 5 billion gallons per year along a section that has endangered species, protected habitat, parks and equestrian trails. In big winter storms, giant boulders roll down the river bed, attracting spectators to its banks.

It is here — at the junction of Shadow Hills, Lake View Terrace and other small enclaves of the northeast San Fernando Valley — that the California High Speed Rail Authority may build a quarter-mile-long elevated viaduct, allowing trains to exit a long tunnel through the San Gabriel Mountains as they head toward a future station in Burbank.

But the plan is attracting growing scrutiny by government boards and local citizen groups, who are urging the state to eliminate the route from consideration and instead continue developing an alternative plan that would have the trains approach Burbank in a continuous long tunnel.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...nap-story.html