RAIL AND TRANSIT PROJECT

California High Speed Rail –
Palmdale to Burbank Section, California

As part of Phase I of the California high-speed rail system is the Palmdale to Burbank section. It will connect the Antelope Valley (Palmdale Transportation Center Station) to the San Fernando Valley (Hollywood Burbank Airport Station), bringing high-speed rail service to the urban Los Angeles area with a new state-of-the-art modern rail line that closes the current passenger rail gap between Central and Southern California.

For this project, SENER is conducting both the environmental process and the development of the preliminary engineering of the route alternatives for the California high-speed rail line between these two important transportation hubs. The objective is to select the best possible route and obtain environmental approval in order to continue with the design and construction process.

The selected route will be approximately around 35-41 miles long and will include the design of two stations, in Palmdale and Burbank. As the prime contractor coordinating a team of 30 local sub consultants SENER leads the work for the:

  • Analysis of Alternatives

  • Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement preparation

  • Preliminary Engineering for Project Definition (PEPD) to support the EIR/EIS

  • Preliminary Engineering for Procurement

  • Outreach and community engagement

  • Burbank and Palmdale Station Area Planning (Burbank and Palmdale)

  • Geotechnical Investigations in support of EIR/EIS

As the first high-speed rail line under construction in the United States, SENER was tasked with resolving a number of major challenges. Among the most difficult was the seismic design of the tunnels and structures that cross active fault lines located both underground and on the surface. The tunnel design also had to support groundwater pressures of more than 25 bar.