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Design of The High Speed Rail System in California-Orange County To LA Segment
Design of The High Speed Rail System in California-Orange County To LA Segment
Sokol 1
STV Incorporated
Chicago, Illinois
© AREMA 2009 ®
Andrew W. Sokol 2
ABSTRACT
The California High Speed Rail Authority was formed twelve years ago to develop a high speed
rail network designed to meet California’s future transportation challenges. Speeds up to 220
MPH using a steel-wheel-on-steel-rail system were envisioned to allow travel times between
select destinations competitive with air travel. All of the major metropolitan areas within
California are included in the planned routes. These include Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay
Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire, and San Diego.
Project Level EIR/EIS and Preliminary Engineering are now proceeding concurrently and are
due to be completed in late 2010. The 30-mile segment between Anaheim and Los Angeles
presents many significant engineering and construction challenges. Designing solutions to these
will help establish precedents that may be applied to design of the rest of the system, and other
future high speed rail systems in the U.S. Key issues of design significance include:
• Statewide and segment-specific design criteria for curve criteria, superelevation and
clearances;
• Major new terminal stations are being planned in Los Angeles and Anaheim;
• Running in or adjacent to an existing rail corridor, Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s active
• Running through a densely populated urban area, either at-grade or on aerial structure.
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INTRODUCTION
The introduction of a high speed rail system in California, officially called the California High
Speed Train (HST) Project, will provide safe, reliable intercity train service,
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with travel times comparable to air transportation. At full build out, over 700 miles of tracks
will connect all the major population centers of in California. A new, dedicated, fully grade
miles per hour (MPH). An express service trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco is
estimated to take just over 2 hours 30 minutes. High Speed trains will be electrically powered
via a 2x25kV Autotransformer Power Supply System and an Overhead Contact System (OCS),
which is a proven technology to provide safe, reliable traction power for electric rail systems.
The California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), formed in 1996, is a state agency that is
tasked with the planning, design and construction of the HST system. In January 2007, a
significant milestone was achieved, as one of the small but key segments, the Orange County to
Los Angeles (OC-LA) segment, advanced into the more detailed, preliminary engineering and
project-level Environmental Impact Study / Report (EIS/EIR) phase. Other segments followed
or will follow shortly thereafter. The selected routes and a brief summary of key design issues
will be presented for the OC-LA segment, which is one of the furthest advanced segments.
For the OC-LA segment, moving into Preliminary Engineering and EIS/EIR meant the design
team could begin tackling the many significant design challenges along the route. This paper
will present a brief summary of the status of design, decisions made and some of the key
engineering-related issues addressed or still to be addressed. The OC-LA segment is the furthest
advanced and the work performed on that segment will set precedent that may be applied to
design of the rest of the system, and likely other future high speed rail systems in the U.S.
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BACKGROUND
A broad-based program level environmental review process was completed in 2005, culminating
in a certified Statewide Final Program EIR/EIS. This process analyzed a host of issues related to
the basic feasibility of building a HST system and the process established some key features
about the system to move forward with. These included train vehicle technology and selection of
the basic routes. For vehicle technology, the Very High Speed steel-wheel-on-steel-rail mode
(speeds up to 220 MPH) was recommended over Maglev and Non-electrified alternatives. For
the OC-LA segment, the LOSSAN (Los Angeles to San Diego) corridor was recommended over
The Route
The recommended route follows the same basic path between Los Angeles and Anaheim
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used by existing Metrolink commuter rail and Amtrak intercity service. The 30-mile long route
parallels a busy rail corridor and contains three segments of different ownership. Starting from
the Los Angeles (north) end, the west bank line of the Los Angeles River is owned by Metro; the
San Bernardino Subdivision is owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF); and
the Orange Subdivision is owned by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). The
corridor is generally a two or three track high density line mainline carrying up to 160 trains per
day. The HST system is planned to be constructed mainly on the southwest side of the existing
R/W (though a short portion of the HST flies over and runs on the north east side of the existing
R/W).
Running parallel to (and partially within) an existing rail corridor has the benefits of reducing
property or roadway impacts compared to non-rail corridor alternatives, but it does require
mitigating numerous freight spurs and connections branching off the main line. Approximately
50% of the land abutting the route is industrial, 8% residential, 4% commercial and 2% parks
and 2% institutional. Approximately 30% is occupied by transportation uses (both roadway and
railroad).
Operations
Operations analysis for the OC-LA HST segment considered the entirety of train operations
along the LOSSAN Corridor (i.e. conventional passenger and freight in addition to HST). The
majority of the segment (BNSF’s San Bernardino Subdivision, from Redondo Junction to
Fullerton Junction – 20 miles) is two- or three-track mainline carrying both freight and
conventional passenger service, with the current and forecast volumes shown in table 1.
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Year 2030
Current Volume
Operator Type of Service Forecast Volume
(trains per day)
(trains per day)
Metrolink Commuter 28 91
The basic findings were that for the forecasted volumes of the year 2030:
1) Two tracks dedicated to freight only would be insufficient for freight operations.
2) Two new dedicated HST tracks could support a limited amount of conventional
3) Three tracks dedicated to freight and conventional passenger service, while sufficient for
the short term, may become insufficient when considering forecasted volumes.
Therefore, either a portion of conventional service could run on the HST tracks, or a
fourth conventional track would need to be added along parts of the corridor.
Therefore, the design approach is to provide a new two-track HST guideway that does not
preclude the potential of accommodating conventional passenger train equipment. This HST
guideway would be situated such that the third conventional main track can be readily
constructed (where it doesn’t already exist) without impact, and a fourth track could be added in
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Figure 3 – Basic Track Configuration between Redondo Jct. and Fullerton Jct.
Initial service is planned for 6 high speed trains per hour in each direction. The two HST main
tracks could support up to 20 high speed trains, or some combination of HST and Metrolink
trains, per hour in each direction, assuming a compatible signal system and comparable operating
speeds.
The optimal maximum speed for HST for the OC-LA segment was found to be 125 MPH.
Whereas speeds up to 150 MPH could be achieved on some straight portions of the alignment,
the overall trip time saved would only be six seconds. Trip time between Anaheim and Los
High Speed trains will be electrically powered via a 2x25kV Autotransformer Power Supply
System and an Overhead Contact System (OCS), which is a proven technology to provide safe,
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PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING
Preliminary engineering for the OC-LA segment began in January 2007 concurrently with
project level EIR/EIS. A 10% Design plan set was submitted in March 2009, and a 15% will be
completed in December 2009. Preliminary engineering (30% design level) will be completed in
December 2010. The CHSRA is currently contemplating tailoring the 30% design into
Track Configuration
The HST system is planned to be a dedicated double track with dedicated north- and south-
bound tracks and no reverse running permitted under normal circumstances (except at station
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approaches and off-hour non-revenue moves). The HST guideway will be fully isolated and
grade separated from all other railroads and roadways. Currently, approximately 50% of the
HST guideway is planned to be at-grade, 26% on and aerial viaduct, 2% in a trench, and 23% yet
equally on both, with the final selection to be determined prior to the end of the preliminary
engineering phase. Limited sharing of the HST tracks with conventional train service (Amtrak
and Metrolink) is being considered as it could bring nearer term benefits and long term
particularly in the connections of existing conventional lines to the HST tracks. Also,
operational logistics, motive power and signaling systems will have to be made compatible, with
Grade Crossings
No at-grade crossings are permitted, so all existing road and rail grade crossing will have to be
grade separated or closed. A total of 87 crossings exist along the corridor (many already grade
separated). All of the roadway crossings are being evaluated for closure, lowering (generally,
the road will be lowered under the HST guideway), or modification of the existing grade
separated crossings. A handful of existing grade crossings are in various stages of design and
construction by others, and the HST design team is coordinating with those projects to help
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At-Grade Guideway
The default design is to have the HST system run at grade. At the current level of design, it is
critical to establish the total width of the guideway and offset from existing tracks. This will be
environmental impacts
(a process that is
advancing
concurrently). Figure
dimensions that have been established to design the track alignments and determine the footprint
Aerial Guideway
Figure 6 – Basic Aerial Viaduct Typical Section
Where it is exceedingly difficult or
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the track running clearances, OCS system, system duct banks, and emergency and maintenance
walkways. Offset of the structure from existing tracks is also an important factor that can
greatly affect cost and impact to adjacent properties, as well as constructability of the system. As
such, sizing of the structure based on design loading cases and geotechnical conditions must be
considered. Because these include factors that are not fully established at this time, the sizing
and location of the aerial viaduct portions must be carefully considered and selected
The majority of the HST system will run either at-grade or aerial, but there are short sections of
shallow trench to lower the HST under two potential conflicts: The Fullerton Municipal Airport
flight path, and an existing crossing of Alondra Blvd., where the HST guideway would follow
the profile of the BNSF tracks and run in a retained cut. A two and a half mile long tunnel is
being considered as an alternative for a particularly constrained portion of the LOSSAN in the
Track Alignment
Alignment design for HST operation is generally based upon European and Japanese standards,
recommendations.
The basic CHSRA mandate is to design all unrestricted portions of the route to a 220 MPH
design speed, and where not cost-prohibitive, without precluding the future possible increase up
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to 250 MPH operation. Where the HST runs adjacent to existing railroad tracks, and where other
The OC-LA segment runs between Anaheim and downtown Los Angeles, and generally parallels
the existing LOSSAN railroad corridor, which includes a number of track curves that will
constrain design speed. Because of the dense urbanized nature of this segment, the maximum
design speed has been established at 125 MPH. This is the same case for the San Jose to San
Francisco segment, which parallels the Caltrain Corridor. To summarize the segment, there is
one sharp curve at Fullerton Junction that limits speed to 60 MPH. The remainder of the curves
along the corridor is designed for 100 to 125 MPH operation, with the exception of the station
approaches.
Curve radius, superelevation, spiral transition, and vertical curve parameters are very similar to
those for conventional passenger lines. All criteria are based upon maintaining high passenger
ride comfort levels, generally meeting or exceeding current HST systems around the world.
Eu = Unbalanced Superelevation
V = Design Velocity
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Minimum spiral transition length is determined by the greatest length determined based upon the
factors indicated in table x. Generally, desirable parameters are used, except where geometric
Passenger Stations
Major HST Stations are planned at Los Angeles and Anaheim. An intermediate station may also
be included, and would be located adjacent to the Metrolink / Amtrak stations at Fullerton or
Norwalk / Santa Fe Springs. Cities will be active partners in developing plans for the station in
The Los Angeles station is projected to be the busiest station in the system. A number of
different configurations were analyzed for this station, including underground below the existing
red line subway station under Los Angeles Union Station (LAUS). Another alternative
considered was a partially underground station along the west bank of the Los Angeles River
approximately 1,500 feet east of LAUS. The configuration being carried forward in Preliminary
Engineering is an aerial HST station located directly above the existing at-grade Metrolink,
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Amtrak and Metro Orange Line LRT tracks, on a second level. The HST station will include
The City of Anaheim and OCTA are jointly developing a large, multi-modal transportation
center in the City of Anaheim. Located near State Route 57, at the site of the existing train
station, and adjacent to two major sports facilities (Angel Stadium and the Honda Center), the
planned ARTIC will serve as a major transportation hub in the area with a number of potential
future modes being accommodated. The HST system will terminate at this station with what is
currently planned as a two platform, four track HST station. Grade separated connections to
This station is near the geographic midpoint between Los Angeles and Anaheim. The planned
HST station is a grade, located approximately a half mile north of the existing Metrolink /
Amtrak station, which would remain in place. Bypass tracks will be provided to permit express
Fullerton Station is a substantial passenger station and is therefore being considered for a HST
station. It is at Fullerton Junction, where Metrolink train service splits off toward either San
Bernardino or Anaheim. This station is located approximately five miles north of the planned
Anaheim station. Due to significant geometric constraints including nearby new and existing
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residential housing, the HST station at Fullerton would be an aerial station, located above the
existing Metrolink / Amtrak station. As with the Norwalk / Santa Fe Springs Station, bypass
The OC-LA segment has approximately ten project areas where significant physical obstacles
will require complex and carefully considered design solutions. The following is a sample of a
The area just south of Los Angeles Union Station involves a number of important design
considerations. There is no existing railroad right-of-way (R/W) in the area immediately south
of the station, so an all new R/W will need to be acquired. The area is mixed industrial and
commercial, but as the HST alignment approaches the Los Angeles River, there is also some
To minimize impacts, the HST guideway is on an aerial structure coming south out of the station,
and remains aerial, flying over the historic 1st Street bridge, before descending under the historic
4th Street bridge once entering existing railroad R/W. A fairly sharp S-curve is used to direct the
HST alignment from the station to the Los Angeles River, where the existing Metro-owned West
Bank Line exists, while avoiding a large property development project and other key properties.
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Amtrak has plans for a set of run-through tracks coming out of the south end of Los Angeles
Union Station that would allow through movement into and out of the station for Amtrak and
select Metrolink trains. Currently, the station is stub ended. These run through tracks are being
BNSF’s Hobart Yard, a very large intermodal rail yard located only a few miles from the north
end of the Alameda Corridor, principally receives and handles shipping containers coming from
the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. This is built-out, fixed facility which the HST
Due to this fact, and the busy nature of the roadway (26th Street) which is heavily utilized by
truck traffic related to the intermodal yard and other uses, and the industrial land uses to the
south, the HST line will traverse this area on an aerial viaduct. The total length of this viaduct,
which begins at the Los Angeles River, crosses over the north end of Hobart Yard and ends at
The DT Junction / Slauson Avenue Bridge area poses a design challenge, with a couple of
potential design solutions still being considered. The Union Pacific (UP) Patata Line, which runs
along the east bank of the San Gabriel River, crosses the BNSF main tracks in this area right
under the Slauson Avenue bridge. The presence of a high tension power line in the vicinity also
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The first alternative being considered is to have the HST guideway run at-grade on the south side
of the existing tracks, under the bridge (shown in Figure x). This would necessitate the lowering
of the UP Patata Line into a trench, relocation of the high tension power line, and heavy
The second alternative is to have the HST guideway fly over the Slauson Avenue bridge on an
aerial structure that would also then fly over the I-610 and the UP La Habra Subdivision track; a
total length of just over two miles. A decision on which alternative to use will be made prior to
La Mirada Corridor
A three mile long portion of the LOSSAN is highlighted by extensive industrial freight tracks on
the south side, and an important roadway (Stage Road) on the north. The track alignment has
been refined in this area with a series of gentle reversing curves to minimize the impacts to
existing rail and roadway facilities, generally running at-grade. Typical geometry used in the
reversing curves is shown below. Note the large radius selected to maintain minimum curve
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There are also a number of existing and proposed roadway grade separations in place that the
extensive modifications to Stage Road and the freight tracks on the south will be required.
An approximate 2-mile long portion of the corridor located in the City of Anaheim (between
Vermont and La Palma Avenue) is only 50’ wide and contains two existing tracks. There are
also densely spaced at-grade crossings (total of six) in this area. The R/W in this area is owned
by OCTA and primarily supports Metrolink and Amtrak operation, though also some local
Due to the narrow width of the R/W; the number of grade separations that would be required;
and impacts to the nearby residential neighborhoods, a bored tunnel alternative is being studied
in this area. The bored tunnel would have to be deep enough to pass under the existing roadway
Lincoln Avenue, Carbon Creek and would require temporary shooflies that would require
significant property acquisitions. A cut and cover tunnel option was considered but was found to
The other alternative is to acquire an entire new strip of R/W west of the existing R/W to
accommodate the full width of the HST guideway at grade. The at-grade alternative would
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Vehicles have not yet been selected, therefore the tracks, stations and infrastructure are being
designed to allow large latitude in the selection of vehicles, so to not preclude any potential
The primary vehicle maintenance facility, to be used for major repair and overhaul, is planned to
be located in the Central Valley, near the geographic center of the system. A large layover and
light-maintenance facility will also be required at Los Angeles, and/or Anaheim. Sites in both
cities within 3-miles of the stations are being studied. The facility needs to be sized to provide
daily cleaning and storage of 60 trains a day, as well as perform periodic inspection and running
If the HST tracks share operation with limited Metrolink service, which is under consideration, a
waiver allowing FRA-compliant vehicles to run on the same tracks as non-compliant HST trains
The CHSRA will also seek formal input and guidance from the FRA on requirements for
physical separation distance, intrusion detection systems, and barrier walls that will be needed
To this point in design, the FRA has provided general input and review comments on design
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CONCLUSION
The California High Speed Train Project, with the OC-LA segment at the forefront of the
process, is establishing new design standards and criteria that can be used in other U.S. high
speed rail systems developed in the future. The design process is still at an early stage, as
important design standards and criteria are presently being established. Final track alignments
and full environmental clearance will be completed at the end of the preliminary engineering
phase. The OC-LA segment may also provide valuable guidance in designing such systems in
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Figure 3 – Basic Track Configuration between Redondo Jct. and Fullerton Jct.
© AREMA 2009 ®