Southern California
Southern California is key to the success of the state’s high-speed rail plans.
Los Angeles Union Station will undergo a colossal redevelopment, making it the axis of an upgraded trunk line for high-speed and electrified Metrolink trains running through the city.
Environmental and initial design work for getting through the mountains to Las Vegas and the Central Valley will be complete by 2022.
Los Angeles Union Station is an important link for Amtrak, Metrolink commuter trains, Metro Rail subway and light rail lines, and local and intercity bus lines.
The problem is that it's a "stub" terminal – the tracks end there. Trains have to back out of the station to continue on in other directions.
The Link Union Station Project (Link US) is a $1 billion expansion of the facility funded in part by California High-Speed Rail. Link US will give the station "through" tracks by extending the station to the south over U.S. Highway 101, allowing trains to pass through the station in both directions. The initiative will result in massive capacity improvements, allowing for frequent high-speed and regional train departures seamlessly integrated with local transit.
A 44-mile rail corridor from Burbank to Anaheim is among the most important and heavily-used in the U.S. This line serves freight trains, the nation’s second busiest Amtrak line, and Metrolink, the region’s commuter rail service.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority plans to replace the current three-track configuration with two electric passenger tracks and two freight tracks. This will allow for frequent high-speed trains and fast, modern, electric regional Metrolink trains similar to the new Caltrain service.
The award-winning Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center opened in 2014. The station serves more than two dozen Metrolink and Amtrak trains daily but is designed to handle dozens more high-speed and super fast regional trains.
The route from southern California to the Central Valley and the Bay Area as well as to Las Vegas via Brightline West will require construction through several mountain ranges.
Most of the environmental documents for these sections will be completed by 2022, the final step prior to construction once funding is available.
Palmdale, 40 miles north and east of Los Angeles, will become an important junction of high-speed lines north, south, and east. The City is so enthusiastic about the economic potential of high-speed rail that they embarked on a massive planning effort envisioning redevelopment of a full square mile of their downtown center. The Palmdale Transit Area Specific Plan proposes a pedestrian-oriented mixed-use district surrounding a multimodal transportation hub serving high-speed rail, Metrolink, Brightline West, Amtrak, light rail, and bus service.
Brightline West will be a privately run high-speed line from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and will be integrated with California high-speed rail.
The first segment, from Victor Valley to Las Vegas, will start construction soon. The second, from Victor Valley to Rancho Cucamonga, is being designed. Upgrading Metrolink's San Bernardino line to Caltrain-type service is a possibility.
