The Palmdale-Burbank section of the San Francisco-Los Angeles high-speed line obtains environmental certification

The Palmdale-Burbank section of the high-speed line between San Francisco and Los Angeles, led by Sener, has recently obtained environmental certification from the California High Speed ​​Rail Authority (CHSRA). The section between Palmdale and Burbank is part of Phase 1 of the California high-speed system and covers approximately 70 kilometers, crossing urban, rural and natural areas.

Sener has leaded this project since 2015, when the CHSRA awarded the group the engineering and environmental services for the section. More specifically, Sener has been responsible for the preliminary design and analysis of the alternatives until identifying the solution preferred by the CHSRA. Additionally, Sener has also been responsible for the environmental impact analysis, the conceptual design of the Palmdale and Burbank stations and the identification of the rights of way to be acquired for the track layout, stations and auxiliary elements, and for supporting the CHSRA during the public information of the entire process.

As main consultant, Sener has led a group of more than 30 companies, including some of the most important North American engineering and environmental companies, and has achieved consensus among the different interested parties of the project, which is of great technical complexity. The Palmdale-Burbank section has 45 kilometers of tunnel, including two tunnels of more than 20 kilometers in length in seismic zones, crossing faults such as the San Andres, San Gabriel and Sierra Madre faults.

The Palmdale-Burbank section will provide a sustainable mobility alternative between the main metropolitan areas of California. It will feature state-of-the-art signalling and traffic safety technology (positive train control (PTC), anti-intrusion barriers, and earthquake early warning systems, among others).

The California High-Speed ​​Line is the first high-speed rail system under construction in the United States. It will connect the major Californian urban centers (San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego) over a total length of 1,287 km and 24 stations. Once inaugurated, it is expected to connect San Francisco and the Los Angeles basin in less than 3 hours, at speeds of up to 400 km/h.