High-speed train open day on Wednesday

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the California High-Speed ​​Rail Authority is hosting an open house in San Francisco. It will take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the “Portal,” where future service will end at the Salesforce Transit Center.
A similar open house was held in Gilroy this week.

These are the last two of four open houses held this fall in Northern California to update the public on the status of the project.

The open day will be an open event where visitors can speak to planners and engineers and view detailed design plans of the route. There will also be a new virtual reality experience that includes not only a look at train interiors, but also platforms and a drone shot of the completed Hanford Viaduct.

A bit of 3D art on the portal allows people to take photos that give the impression they are standing on the edge of a hole in the ground, revealing a view of the future rail terminal beneath their feet.

Environmental clearance for the Northern California portion of the program – from the Central Valley to San Francisco – was completed in 2022. Four stations are planned on this section: Gilroy, Diridon Station in San Jose, Millbrae-San Francisco Airport and the terminal at Salesforce Transit Center.

CAHSRA has reached settlements in several disputes along the stretch, including with the City of Brisbane, where a maintenance facility is planned, and the Grasslands Water District, an important bird habitat crossed by the rail line. It has worked on several joint projects with other agencies, including electrifying the Caltrain in preparation for and along future high-speed rail (CAHSRA contributed about a third of the total project costs); The Portal, the new terminal for the rail corridor; Planning and redesigning the Diridon Station in collaboration with Caltrain, the City of San Jose, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), and the Metropolitan Transportation Council; and Planning for the Gilroy Station Area in collaboration with the City of Gilroy and the VTA.