KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
The state organization building the California “bullet train” announced plans Wednesday for the Palmdale to Burbank route, which does not include a stop in Santa Clarita, officials said.
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The California High-Speed Rail Authority released the details of one of the final sections of the bullet train Wednesday, ahead of four presentations officials have scheduled later this month, with one taking place in Acton.
The route follows the 14 Freeway through the San Gabriel Mountains via five separate tunnels and over bridges, starting in Palmdale; going through Acton, Agua Dulce, Santa Clarita and San Fernando; and ending in Burbank, according to the Rail Authority.
More than half of the proposed route would be below ground, including through Sylmar, the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains.
The Santa Clarita City Council sent a letter to the Rail Authority earlier this year saying, in part, the council will oppose any plan not completely underground.
City officials supported one of the three original proposed routes from Palmdale to Burbank, which mostly tunneled through the mountains.
“The current plan is both above ground and below ground,” said Mayor Pro Tem Marsha McLean. “This will affect the communities close to the project.”
McLean is an avid supporter of public transportation, but wants the final version of the project to have less of an impact on the surrounding areas.
The proposed 38-mile segment is part of the 800-mile state high-speed rail project connecting San Francisco to Anaheim.
“Once operational, high-speed rail will breathe new life into local economies by encouraging the movements of residents and visitors between the major regions of the state like never before, while at the same time, protecting California’s environment,” said Rail Authority officials in a press release.
When completed, passengers who use the high-speed rail line are expected to be able to get from Palmdale to Burbank in 20 minutes or less.
The project has seen a drastic increase in cost, from an initial estimate of $33 billion to the current estimate proposed in the 2018 plan of $77.3 billion, according to the Rail Authority.
The Rail Authority’s plan says the California bullet train system would be completed by 2033.
The in-person community meeting for Acton is set for Saturday, Sept. 29 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at High Desert School.
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I’m looking forward to this so much! Anything to relieve traffic congestion. Also if people could work in Burbank, but live in Palmdale, this could greatly increase the home values of Palmdale. Demand and prices are so low over there. I assume it’s because of the commute.
Naji – you can already take the train from Palmdale to downtown Los Angeles and it is faster than driving. So why is it that so many people don’t? And what makes you think that spending 33 billion of tax payer money is going to get people to take it when they don’t take it now?
The new estimated cost is 77.3 Billion and that number will likely only increase. Studies have shown this train, like other public trains, will require heavy tax subsidies. The money will have to come from somewhere which means another increase in our taxes. Eventually there aren’t going to be enough taxpayers in California to pay for this ridiculous utopian nonsense.
Why would there be a SCV stop? We hate the kind of people that live in the AV, and we hate the kind of people that live in LA. Isn’t that why we vote to shoot ourselves in the foot every election? Hate is what the SCV is about.
We don’t want those filthy people here. We only want those who LOOK like US here. We don’t care about jobs, the economy, our property values, or anything else that THOSE people we escaped care about. We only care about LOOKING a certain way. We don’t want them here. We would rather live in trailer parks…so long as the government keeps doling out our pensions and SSI.