Environmental review starts for high speed rail through San Francisco

At the same time, federal partner, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a new notice of intent to initiate the federal environmental review process for the project section.

The preparation of the San Francisco to San Jose environmental document for the blended system will involve a scoping and public outreach process; development of preliminary engineering designs; and assessment of environmental effects associated with the construction, operations and maintenance of the high-speed rail system including track, ancillary facilities and stations, along the Caltrain corridor. A formal comment period related to public scoping has started, allowing for public comments to be received until June 10.

The San Francisco to San Jose Project Section is part of the first phase of the California high-speed rail system connecting the cities of San Francisco, Millbrae (San Francisco Airport) and San Jose on an electrified Caltrain Corridor with proposed stations at San Francisco 4th and King and/or Transbay Transit Center, near the San Francisco Airport (Millbrae) and San Jose.

The Transbay Transit Center Program is being developed by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, and currently is in phase 1 of construction.

Phase 2 includes construction of the Downtown Rail Extension (DTX), including a new underground Fourth and Townsend Street Caltrain station; completion of the Transit Center's train station. DTX will extend Caltrain commuter rail from its current terminus at Fourth and King streets to the new Transit Center. It will also deliver the California High-Speed Rail Authority's future high-speed rail service to the Transit Center.

A team led by Parsons Transportation Group has substantially completed work on preliminary engineering of Phase 2. The DTX was originally scheduled for completion in 2019; however, work is on hold due to a significant funding gap, according to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, which said, despite the stall, work continues on the Supplemental EIS/EIR and coordination with Caltrain and the California High Speed Rail Authority.

The 1.3-mile rail extension (1.95 miles of total construction length) will be constructed principally below grade using cut-and-cover and mined tunneling methods underneath Townsend and Second Streets. The project includes the underground station at Fourth and Townsend streets, six structures for emergency exit, and ventilation along the alignment, utility relocation and rail systems work.