SENER Takes Part in the California High Speed Line

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), has awarded SENER the contract to develop the engineering and environmental services for the Palmdale to Burbank section of the California high speed line.The engineering and technology group is a renowned expert in railways and urban transportation, specifically in high speed rail implementation. It has already participated in projects in the Golden state, such as Los Angeles Union Station.

The contract calls for SENER to perform preliminary design for the 45 miles high speed line section from Palmdale station in the north, to the Burbank Airport station in the south. These engineering services will include conceptual design engineering, analyzing various alternatives before selecting the preferred one. Furthermore, SENER will prepare the tender bid documents for design and build (D&B) contracts. SENER is the prime consultant, subcontracting major American companies including HDR and Kleinfelder for Engineering, Circlepoint for Environment, MBI for Outreach and PlaceWorks for urban planning.

The Palmdale – Burbank section will pass through urban, rural and natural areas. SENER will define the footprint for environmental impact analysis and the right of way to be acquired, for the track alignment, stations, and ancillary elements. Among the alternatives a log bored tunnel will be analyzed, and the Station areas will include an extensive Urban Planning exercise together with the Palmdale and Burbank City planners.

Following award of the contract, the CEO of SENER USA, Francisco Fernández, said, “As experts in high speed rail lines that runs through major city centers, we’re going to apply all of our know-how to plan and design an efficient solution that will be respectful of the environment while being accessible and convenient for passengers. Given SENER’s expertise, we hope this contract will open a fruitful collaboration with the CHSRA”.

SENER has been present in California since 2008 with offices in San Francisco, being involved in local projects such as the master plan for Los Angeles Union Station to gather the HSR Station and to redevelop the area around this historical building.

In awarding both contracts, the CHSRA recognizes SENER’s experience in high speed rail and in urban integration of new rail lines. In addition to its participation in numerous AVE (Spanish High Speed Rail) lines, including the international connection between France and Spain -which included the Figueres – Perpignan high speed line- through a P3 contract (Public-Private-Partnership), SENER has developed the renewal of the railway hubs of Wrocław, Poznań and Łódź in Poland, to future HSR nodes.

The extensive is SENER’s prestige in high speed that it was called to prepare a “High Speed Railway System Implementation Handbook“ for the International Union of Railways (UIC) which was presented in Philadelphia at the UIC’s HighSpeed 2012 Congress, as well as the UIC “Passenger Railway Systems Upgrading Handbook”, published by the UIC in 2014.

California’s high speed line will be the first operating high speed rail in the United States. It will connect the state’s various major cities (San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego) for a total distance of 800 miles (1,287 km) and up to 24 stations. By 2029, San Francisco will be connected with the Los Angeles basin in less than three hours at speed up to 250 mph (400 km/h). Once under operation, the line is expected to boost the state’s economy and reduce CO2 emissions and atmospheric pollution.

Source : BusinessWire