STB Exempts CAHSR

[leemell]

This article reports the the Surface Transportation Board exempted the CA HSR project from their review and oversite.

 

[DET63]

From the article linked above:

California's bullet train agency won a key legal ruling Thursday, obtaining an exemption from regulatory oversight by the federal Surface Transportation Board for construction of the first segment of the rail system that would run 220 mph trains from Los Angeles to San Francisco.


The ruling is among several barriers it has successfully navigated in the long-sought start of construction, though the state still must secure a deal with powerful freight railroads, obtain a key permit from the Army Corps of Engineers and prevail in a lawsuit that alleges the rail plan violates a 2008 voter-approved bond measure. The rail authority has yet to buy any parcels of land and may face considerable delays in fighting angry farmers for land in the Central Valley.

But over the last year, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has weathered hostile congressional hearings, legal challenges, allegations of a flawed contracting process and eroding public support in its drive to begin construction of the $68-billion system. It is in the final stages of signing a contract with Sylmar-based Tutor Perini to build 29 miles of bridges, tunnels and rail bed through Fresno, a deal worth $985 million.

 

[Tokkyu40]

I think they should take this opportunity to announce construction in stages: first a single track starter line running 125 mph DMUs from Sacramento to San Diego, then double tracking and finally electrification.
Starting with the final project is guaranteed to be extremely expensive and will take time to build the customer base to pay for it.

 

[Anderson]

The issue is that building one track vs. two doesn't save that much in the context of all the bridge/tunnel work that needs to be done. That said, either a DMU or diesel-hauled engine approach until they can work out all the catenary would make sense, especially with the EMD-125s that Metrolink ordered up (in spite of not needing the whole speed rating that ran up the cost of those engines...hmmm...).