Despite wavering political support and a loss of federal funding, California's embattled high-speed rail project continue to push through the environmental review process.

Last week, the California High Speed Rail Authority released its draft environmental study for the Los Angeles to Anaheim segment of the project - the final leg of its initial phase. The authority is studying two build alternatives for the approximately 30-mile corridor, both of which would involve sharing track with existing passenger rail systems between Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and ARTIC in Anaheim. The preferred alternative involves the construction of a maintenance and storage facility at 26th Street in Vernon, although a second location is also under construction at 15th Street in Downtown.

CAHSR Union station to Anaheim routeCAHSRA

Both build options would involve full grade separations of the shared rail corridor at Pioneer Boulevard, Norwalk Boulevard, Los Nietos Road, Cerritos Avenue, and State College Boulevard, while eight existing grade crossings would be retained in the City of Anaheim. Modifications to several existing stations passenger rail stops, including those in Commerce, Buena Park, Fullerton, and Norwalk, will also be required.

Less certain are plans for an intermediate stop between Anaheim and Los Angeles. While the study is evaluating having high-speed rail trains stop at Norwalk/Santa Fe Spring or Fullerton, it is also possible that neither station is built due to cost concerns. The project's growing price tag has been responsible for several changes to the project, including the retention of existing grade separations in Anaheim and the cancellation of a proposed BNSF rail yard in Colton.

As of last year, the estimated cost for the Los Angeles to Anaheim segment was $6.9 billion.

Aerial view of California High Speed Rail trains leaving Union Station through proposed run-through tracksCAHSRA

The timeframe for when - if ever - California High Speed Rail might reach Southern California remains unclear. Construction is underway for a portion of the project's initial operating segment between Bakersfield and Merced, for which the Biden administration awarded more than $3 billion in grants. The Trump administration has since clawed back that funding, although California officials have sued to block that move

A lawsuit filed by the City of Vernon may also pose an obstacle for the project. While Vernon is seeking to block the expansion of an existing rail yard as part of the Link Union Station project by Metro, the run-through tracks which would be built as part of that $2.6-billion effort are also slated to be used by California's high-speed rail system.

Work is also underway for a second high-speed rail project - the Brightline West system, which would run between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga. While that privately-run project has not faced the same political headwinds, it has nonetheless been plagued by its own delays and ballooning price tag.

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