The approval of the 61km section between Palmdale and Burbank paves the way to connect the downtown areas of the two cities.
With trains travelling at speeds up to 355km, this section will connect the Antelope Valley to the San Fernando Valley in a roughly 17-minute train trip – more than twice as fast as traveling by car.
“This is a transformative project for the state of California as a whole, and today’s approval is a major milestone for connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours. It’s also transformational for Los Angeles County, connecting Palmdale to Burbank in a way that’s never been possible before,” said the Authority’s CEO, Brian Kelly
The approval moves this section closer to being “shovel-ready” as funding becomes available.
“Today’s approval is more than a historic milestone – it closes the gap between Los Angeles and San Francisco,” said Authority board chair Tom Richards.
The Palmdale to Burbank Project Section will connect two key population centres in Los Angeles County by linking future multimodal transport hubs in Palmdale and Burbank. The section features about 50km of tunnelling, including 45km through mountains.
The approved alignment reduces the length of tunnelling that would traverse the Angeles National Forest and San Gabriel Mountains when compared to other alternatives. Tunnelling through these regions minimises impacts to communities and the environment.
All that remains to environmentally clear the full 795km Phase 1 system of the project is the Los Angeles to Anaheim segment, which the Authority expects to finalise next year.
The Authority has begun work to extend the 191km currently under construction to 275km of future electrified high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. There are currently more than 25 active construction sites in the Central Valley, with the Authority having now environmentally cleared 745km of the high-speed rail programme from the Bay Area to Los Angeles County.
