On October 11, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) chose the consortium headed by Parsons Brinkerhoff (PB) as program management team. PB’s partners in the consortium include SYSTRA (20%) and several other local companies. Together they will oversee the whole project for the high-speed line, from design to commissioning. SYSTRA S.A. will provide its American subsidiary, SYSTRA Consulting, with the full range of its expertise in the field of high-speed rail.

California High Speed Rail Authority was set up in 1996 to design, build and operate the future high-speed line. Preliminary studies carried out so far have helped to define the specifications of the project: 1100 km of line linking the bay of San Francisco and Sacramento in the north of the state to Los Angeles and San Diego in the south, with trains running at speeds of up to 350 kph. Journey time between San Francisco and Los Angeles will be about 2½ hours.

Funding for the launch of the project had already been approved as part of the California budget for 2006-2007, and this meant that the call for tenders could be issued in September 2006. The first phase is due to last three years and involves drawing up criteria for construction and operating data, as well as design studies and public inquiry. The service is planned to come into operation in 2020, subject to approval by voters in California in November 2008 for the issue of bonds to the value of 10 billion dollars and to investment by the federal government matching this sum.

California first explored the possibility of a high-speed line linking the State’s major cities in the eighties. In 1984, SYSTRA carried out preliminary studies on the Los Angeles-Las Vegas (360 km) and Los Angeles-San Francisco (600 km) routes.

The State of California, which is at the cutting edge with regard to energy-efficient and compact transport solutions, has studied the failures of the various North American high-speed projects to date (Texas, Florida and Canada) and Amtrak’s limited success with the Acela Express along the north-east corridor, a route which dates back to the late 19th century. After consideration, the State has decided to take responsibility itself for the ownership of the project to build a high-speed network, which will run for the most part on new track. In due course, operation of the line could be handed over to either a public or private company.