California high-speed rail will connect the mega-regions of the state, contribute to economic development and a cleaner environment, create jobs and preserve agricultural and protected lands. By 2029, the system will run from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin in under three hours at speeds capable of over 200 miles per hour.
High-Speed Rail Routes
The high-speed rail system planned for California will eventually encompass over 800 miles of rail, with up to 24 stations. Because the project is so large, and will run through areas of the state with extremely different geographical, environmental and economic issues, the project has been broken into ten separate sections, two of which go through Kern County.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority understands that private property owners will be affected by the proposed construction of the high-speed rail system. In light of this fact, the Authority has committed to do everything it can to educate, inform, and work collaboratively with affected property owners.
The documents on this page provide an at-a-glance reference for frequently asked questions and an overview of the procedures for acquiring property, the right-of-way process and the Permit-to-Enter process.
Heavy Maintenance Facility
In 2009, the California High Speed Rail Authority released a Request for Expression of Interest to site a Heavy Maintenance Facility (HMF) in the Central Valley. Kern COG submitted two proposals. One to be located in Shafter just north of the International Trade and Transportation Center and 7th Standard Rd and Santa Fe Way. The other located on the east side of Wasco below Highway 46. There were 15 proposals submitted statewide.
An Annual Listing of projects, including investments in pedestrian walkways and bicycle transportation facilities, for which federal funds have been obligated in the preceding year.
Transportation Conformity requirements for highway and transit projects are defined by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, US EPA and US DOT (FHWA) guidance, and local consultation procedures set up by Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Air Pollution Control Districts to achieve and maintain Federal air quality standards.
Regional analysis addresses the effect of all regionally significant projects in a nonattainment area. The regional analysis considers the Design Concept (what type of project it is) and scope (how long, capacity, etc.) of all projects to be implemented by various analysis years. Regional conformity must be determined not less often than every 4 years by a MPO with a nonattainment or maintenance area, and usually is analyzed more often as Regional Transportation Plan and Federal Transportation Improvement Program amendments happen.
The Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) is a plan for the incremental implementation of the long-range Regional Transportation Plan. The FTIP presents to federal funding agencies manageable components for the funding of long-term plans.
Current and previous FTIP documents are available here.
