A new £106billion line running with trains that can reach speeds of 200mph that can link beautiful cities has been unveiled.
Exciting designs for the first four stations of the California High-Speed Rail system have been released. Renowned studios Foster + Partners, Arup, and Page & Turnbull have collaborated to create these state-of-the-art stations, marking the beginning of the United States’ first high-speed rail network.
Foster + Partners and Arup have designed four stations for the California High-Speed Rail, a project with trains expected to run at top speeds of 220mph (350km/h), which will stretch from San Diego in the south to Sacramento in the north, connecting several key cities along the way.
The first phase of this ambitious project will link San Francisco to Los Angeles, with stations located in Merced, Fresno, Kings Tulare, and Bakersfield.
Foster + Partners’ head of studio, Stefan Behling, highlighted the stations’ “soaring canopies,” which are intended to provide fresh air and shade for waiting passengers, reflecting the project’s environmentally friendly ethos.
Renderings reveal sleek station exteriors and interiors with metallic bronze or matte white finishes, louvred wood and stone walls, sturdy columns, and pergola-style roofs over expansive entrances.
In Fresno, the station will include an elevated pedestrian crossing linking Chinatown and Downtown Fresno, near Mariposa Street. Page & Turnbull will also restore the historic depot on the site, originally built in 1872 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The updated station will comply with modern fire, safety, structural, seismic, and accessibility standards while preserving its architectural heritage.
The Merced station will feature a pedestrian bridge connecting downtown, and a versatile outdoor plaza on 16th Street. This station will be a key link to the greater San Francisco Bay Area, benefiting the city and its growing university population. Kings Tulare station will boast a large outdoor plaza designed to streamline bus, car, and bicycle traffic, with services housed in a rectangular volume beneath the tracks.
Officials project that completing the initial segment from Bakersfield to Merced will cost approximately £27 billion. Extending the route from Los Angeles to San Francisco is expected to require an additional £79 billion, significantly exceeding the original budget proposed years ago.
Bakersfield, the southern terminus of the line, will offer a variety of shaded outdoor plazas. Renderings show amenities beneath elevated tracks, creating a linear park that connects downtown Bakersfield to the Kern River Corridor.
Once completed, the 119-mile Central Valley segment will allow travelers to journey between San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours. The entire California High-Speed Rail system aims to feature up to 24 stations along more than 800 miles of track, with funding approved in 2008 after decades of planning and advocacy.
The project, first proposed in 1979 by Governor Jerry Brown, has faced numerous funding challenges and controversies. Despite an estimated budget ballooning to £106 billion and some skepticism about its completion, construction on viaducts and overcrossings continues. The California High-Speed Rail Authority reports that the Central Valley line is expected to begin service in 2030.
The public will have the opportunity to view the station designs, see 3D renderings, and speak with rail authorities at the California State Fair in Sacramento from July 12 to 28.
