California High-Speed ​​Rail is the first high-speed rail network in the United States

There California High-Speed ​​Rail is an ambitious infrastructure project, consisting of the construction of first high-speed rail network in the USA. An ambitious project, full of engineering challenges, and which, like any mega project, has been the subject of much criticism. Let’s look at it more closely.

The California High-Speed ​​Rail project

California High Speed ​​Rail will be the first high-speed rail network in the United States of America. An ambitious infrastructure project that involves the construction of a railway line that will allow the transit of railway trains up to 350 km/h and that will connect San Francisco to the basin of Los Angeles and Anaheim in less than three hours. The total railway network foresees the construction of well 1,249 km of railwayexpanding northward to Sacramento and southward to San Diego.

The reasons that pushed the institutions and the California High-Speed ​​Rail Authority to carry out this project are need to reduce emissions resulting from other transport systems. This objective will be achieved thanks to a reduction in highway and air traffic congestion that characterizes the Californian territory.

The engineering challenges of California’s high-speed rail network

First of all, the current phase of project implementation is focusing on Initial Operational segment in the Central Valleywhich will connect the cities of Merced And Bakersfield. In particular, the construction of the railway is currently underway on a stretch approximately 200km. It is expected that on the Initial Operational Segment, full operation of the railway is expected between 2031 and 2033.

Going into more detail, we can state that the stretch that connects the city of San Francisco to that of Los Angeles is certainly not a flat stretch, but entails, for the designers, the need to proceed with the design of engineering solutions in order to overcome two important mountain ranges. First of all, it is necessary to create galleriesparticularly through the Diablo Range to the north and Tehachapi Mountains to the south, to connect the Central Valley to the more densely populated coastal areas. The construction of tunnels is a notoriously expensive operation, in economic terms, but also purely engineering, and requires significant investments in terms of resources and workforce.

It will therefore also be necessary to create viaducts and bridges. The construction of these structures is necessary as the railway will have to cross a purely flat area in the Central Valley. In this sense, therefore, there will be many at-grade intersections. The construction of viaducts and bridges will make it possible to overcome at-grade intersections.

Another first-rate engineering challenge is certainly represented by the need to build such significant infrastructures in an area, California, characterized by high seismic activity. One of the substantial differences with other high-speed lines, which characterizes this railway line, is having to share, in some points of the route, with lines normally dedicated to normal trains.

In this sense, therefore, one must proceed intense strengthening activity and of modernization of some railways which are certainly not capable of allowing the transit of high-speed convoys. This modernization activity goes through aelectrification generalization of the railway sections and, furthermore, a modernization of the signaling systems.

What are the criticisms of California High Speed ​​Rail

Compared to 2008, the cost necessary to start building this important infrastructure is practically quadrupled, passing by approximately 30 billion dollars budgeted, to the current ones 120 billion. This is certainly one of the most critical aspects of the project. Another critical aspect is that related to delays. In fact, it must be said that the Initiate Operational Segment should have come into operation by 2021, but to date the entry into operation has been postponed by a decade, bringing the completion date of the works to 2031.

Another problem is what critics have called “Train to Nowhere“, the train to Nowhere. The section currently under construction, Merced-Bakersfield, is located in the Central Valley and does not, in fact, connect the two main megacities, which are San Francisco and Los Angeles. According to most, the cost of this section is not justifiable, as it essentially has no economic utility that can be considered actually useful. Another problem is certainly that relating to lack of funds. In fact, according to estimates, there is a huge gap between the estimated costs and the money actually available for the construction, in particular, of the most expensive sections.