California High-Speed Rail Authority agreed on the preferred alternatives for the high-speed rail routes in Northern California, after staff recommendations.
The staff released its recommendations in July and led a comprehensive outreach effort to provide the Board of Directors with feedback before bringing its recommendations to the Board.
On the San Jose – Merced section, the preferred alternative utilizes a blended configuration between San Jose and Gilroy in the existing Caltrain and Union Pacific Railroad corridors before continuing to a dedicated high-speed rail alignment through Pacheco Pass.
The San Francisco – San Jose preferred alternative will use a blended configuration within the existing Caltrain corridor. This alternative includes a light maintenance facility on the east side of the tracks in Brisbane and does not include additional passing tracks.
The staff will work to finish the Draft Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIR/EIS) for these two sections. The draft environmental documents are due out in early 2020 for the San Jose to Merced project section and in spring 2020 for the San Francisco to San Jose project section. Final route decisions will be made at the conclusion of the environmental review process.
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