Archinect - News

First California High-Speed Rail segment in LA County gets final EIR approvals

2024-07-09T11:18:00-04:00

The penultimate segment of the forthcoming California High-Speed Rail connection from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area has been approved for construction. The stretch begins at Palmdale in northern LA County and connects to Burbank. It will be followed by the final link between Downtown Los Angeles and Anaheim.

ABC7 first reported the milestone and said: “[O]fficials noted that the Palmdale-Burbank section will be largely underground, with four separate tunnels accounting for roughly 30 of the 38 miles. The tunnels will run beneath the Acton community and through the Angeles National Forest. Travel time between Palmdale and Burbank is expected to be about 17 minutes on the high-speed train.”

The initial renderings of the first four Foster + Partners and Arup station terminals were released last month. As per ABC, work is already underway at 25 sites across t...

Foster + Partners and Arup release first designs of California High-Speed Rail stations

2024-06-28T15:46:00-04:00

Foster + Partners and Arup have announced the first four designs for the hotly anticipated California High-Speed Rail as part of a series of open house sessions currently being undertaken with key stakeholders across the state’s Central Valley region. The first set of designs will stand as models for all future nodes in the 500-mile linkage that connects San Francisco to Los Angeles/Orange County.

Construction is underway, and planners expect to have the first operable line readied between 2030 and 2033 after years of financing issues and a recent multibillion-dollar boost from the federal government.

Image: courtesy of Foster + Partners

Stefan Behling, the Head of Studio at Foster + Partners, said: “We are developing an architectural language for the four Central Valley stations, including soaring canopies that draw in fresh air and shield waiting passengers from harsh sunlight. The station design reflects the sustainable ethos of the wider project.”

Meg Cederoth, the Authority Di...

Zaha Hadid Architects' XRL Topside Development construction reaches roof level in Hong Kong

2024-05-28T18:25:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has posted a new construction update on its forthcoming XRL Topside Development at the Hong Kong High-Speed Rail West Kowloon Terminus.

The project, which adds 3.2 million square feet of civic, office, and retail spaces above the existing train station, includes two pairs of towers connecting with a large landscaped central plaza area and a sculptural pavilion, each designed to resemble flower pedals and located at either end of the site.

Rendering: Superview, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

Rendering: Atchain, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

Construction has now progressed to the roof level of the new structures. The firm says they are targeting a LEED Platinum certification as well as other industry credentials for sustainability on the development, which also yields a total of 100,000 square feet of garden terraces.

Rendering: Atchain, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

Rendering: Hayes Davidson, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

UBS is said to...

Brightline West breaks ground on $12 billion Vegas to California high-speed rail project

2024-04-23T17:28:00-04:00

The $12 billion high-speed rail infrastructure project that will connect Las Vegas with various hubs in the Southern California region is off and running. Brightline West’s 218-mile loop is now under construction with a $3 billion push from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the 2028 finish line in sight to coincide with LA's turn as host of that year's Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Las Vegas Station aerial view. Image courtesy Brightline West

Las Vegas Station interior view. Image courtesy Brightline West

The trains will be operated at a maximal speed of 200 miles per hour, setting the North American record. (Another project between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, will commence soon.) Wes Edens, Brightline's founder, said: “Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country.”

Rancho Cucamonga Station exterior view. Image courtesy Brightline West...

High-speed rail line between Vegas and SoCal receives additional $2.5 billion funding

2024-01-26T11:04:00-05:00

The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved $2.5 billion for the Brightline West High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail project. As we have previously reported, the 218-mile line will connect Las Vegas to Southern California, running primarily along the I-15 median.

Electric trains on the line will be capable of reaching 186 miles per hour, fulfilling the journey in half the time to travel by car. The cost of the project currently stands at $12 billion, funded partly by an additional $3 billion allocation last month under the Infrastructure Act, and a $25 million to to the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority that will be used to construct stations on the line in Hesperia and Victor Valley, California.

Related on Archinect: U.S. Department of Transportation awards $6.1 billion in funding for high-speed rail projects in the American West. Image courtesy Brightline West

“As the first true high-speed rail system in America, Brightline West will serve as the blueprint for c...

Over $1 billion allocated to California’s transportation infrastructure

2023-12-19T12:11:00-05:00

The California Transportation Commission has announced the allocation of $1.1 billion for projects aimed at repairing and improving the state’s transportation infrastructure. The funding will be deployed to projects in areas including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diego.

In Los Angeles, $12 million will be used to upgrade bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure on an 18-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway between Redondo Beach and the Orange County line. Upgrades include Class II bike lanes, bus pads, crosswalk visibility enhancements, a rectangular rapid flashing beacon, and pedestrian push buttons, among others. Meanwhile, $6 million will be allocated to San Francisco BART expansion.

The single largest project to receive funding will be a $108 million development along Interstate 80 near the State Route 20 connector that will replace an...

U.S. Department of Transportation awards $6.1 billion in funding for high-speed rail projects in the American West

2023-12-06T14:36:00-05:00

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced $6.1 billion in funding for two high-speed rail projects in Nevada and California that will make history upon their respective completions at the end of the decade.

Both the $8 billion Brightline West plan connecting Southern California to Las Vegas and the California High-Speed Rail project between Los Angeles and San Francisco will receive a total of $3 billion and $3.07 billion each.

The funding will help propel the former towards a formal project announcement that is expected by Friday, according to Reuters. The latter will aid in the development of a pared-down version of the larger California project that has been plagued by funding challenges for several years.

Brightline’s chairman Wes Edens told Reuters the funding marks a “historic moment that will serve as a foundation for a new industry and a remarkable project that will serve a...

California's high-speed rail project receives $202 million in federal funding for critical juncture

2023-09-26T13:28:00-04:00

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has been awarded more than $200 million from the Biden Administration in what is one of the largest pieces of federal funding awarded to the project in its history. The $202 million grant was made by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the 2022 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program — part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.

The latest funding reduces some of the $128 billion burden incurred by the project, which had been teetering on the edge before the state allocated enough funding to complete a critical 171-mile stretch in California’s Central Valley. The federal money will be put specifically towards six grade separations needed to create a clear path for motor vehicles in Kern County.

The High-Speed Rail Authority’s Northern California Director Boris Lipkin said recently that the project can only be completed faster than is currently projected with the help of increased federal support given its engineering complexities.

The state, which finally began the two-step procurement process for the “first-in-the-nation” 220 mph electrified high-speed trainsets last month, said its full realization is on track for 2033 in their latest Project Update Report from March of this year.

Foster + Partners and Arup to deliver first four California High-Speed Rail stations

2023-04-05T17:45:00-04:00

A joint venture of Foster + Partners and Arup will design the first four California High-Speed Rail stations in the state’s Central Valley region, the firms announced this week.

The plans they are developing for the transit organization will eventually deliver stations in Fresno, Kings/Tulare, Merced, and Bakersfield, serving the ambitious but still heavily scrutinized project’s initial 171-mile segment in an area that’s home to roughly 6.5 million people.

The joint venture announced its intentions of working with local interests during the two-stage Notice to Proceed (NTP) design and development process following the delivery of a "system-wide vision plan" for the proposed 500-mile project that will become America's first-ever high-speed railway.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Stefan Behling, Head of Studio for Foster + Partners, said: "After delivering our systemwide vision plan, we are now delighted to be working with Arup on detailed designs for the network’s first four station...

California’s High Speed Rail costs balloon again to $128 billion

2023-03-20T19:41:00-04:00

The price tag for the rail system has risen to $128 billion, according to a California High Speed Rail Authority project update report — a nearly 22% uptick from the previous figure of $105 billion from last year and a far cry from the $33 billion cost voters approved in 2008. The latest increases are due to “inflation/escalation, enhanced scope definition and greater contingency for risk,” per the report.

The cost imbalance has reportedly pushed back the Merced-to-Bakersefield segment’s targeted start of service from 2030 by up to three years, according to the CEO of the Rail Authority Brian P. Kelly.

Plans now are for at least the 119-mile segment that’s currently under construction in the Central Valley to be completed while the project waits on the tens of billions worth of outstanding federal grant funding that are still pending approval by the government.

The headache mirrors the troubles the HS2 line is having in England. In his report to the state, Kelly lamented the hamstrung funding, saying: “Megaprojects that last for decades need long-term, stable funding. Every country around the world that has built high-speed rail has dedicated billions of dollars over several decades to see it through. We don’t have one penny of state support for this project identified after 2030.”

Brightline's SoCal to Las Vegas high speed rail project could soon be underway

2022-12-05T15:45:00-05:00

A long-awaited high-speed rail project connecting Las Vegas to Southern California is reportedly ready to proceed in 2023 as an $8 billion proposal from rail operator Brightline is nearing permitting permission from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

According to the International Railway Journal (IRJ), the project would include three stops along a 49-mile stretch of land along Interstate 15. The railway system is expected to reduce car traffic between Los Angeles and Vegas by 3 million vehicles per year and transport passengers at speeds around 180 miles for a trip that would only take a little more than 2 hours from end to end. The company says the project would create up to 1,000 permanent jobs in both states.

A proposed map of the network showing a Metrolink connection to central Los Angeles. Image courtesy of Brightline.

Operations could begin as soon as 2026 or 2027 depending on the start date, which Brightline West CEO Mike Reininger says will happen in “a matter of w...

California high-speed rail project secures critical $4.2B for Central Valley line

2022-07-06T13:41:00-04:00

After wrangling over the future of California’s high-speed rail, state lawmakers plan to release a critical batch of money to finish a bullet train in the Central Valley while also establishing an inspector general to audit the beleaguered project and authorizing billions of dollars in new money for rail plans across the state.

Following a sizable $97.5 billion state budget surplus, California lawmakers last week agreed to allocate $4.2 billion in bond funds needed to finish the ambitious high-speed rail project's 171-mile Central Valley portion which is expected to connect Bakersfield with Merced by 2030, according to current estimates.

Updated designs of the HS2 London Euston high-speed railway station released

2022-03-28T15:28:00-04:00

HS2 Ltd., the British non-departmental public body behind the development of High Speed 2 (HS2) national high-speed railway, has released an updated design for its new terminus station at London Euston.

Two new images, updated from 2015, show the concept design for the interior and exterior of the station. They were drafted by a design consortium made up of Arup, WSP, Grimshaw Architects, Haptic, and LDA Design, alongside HS2’s Station Construction Partner, Mace Dragados JV (MDJV).

Previously on Archinect: Grimshaw and Arup release designs for new high-speed rail hub in central London

One of the station’s defining features is a bold, geometric roof that will allow natural light to infiltrate the interior while also emphasizing its north-south alignment. According to HS2, elements of the roof can be prefabricated off-site and installed using modular construction techniques. The station, itself, will span three levels, with ten 450-meter-long subsurface platforms. At peak operation, ...

California's high-speed rail project could be going in a new direction

2022-03-15T12:12:00-04:00

14 years after voters approved a nearly $10 billion bond to start building the rail system that would whisk riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour, many California residents have long since lost track of what is being built where, and when or if it will ever be completed. “We’re teetering on the edge,” said Ashley Swearengin, a former mayor of Fresno who now leads the Central Valley Community Foundation. “We could get it right.”

The budget for the California high-speed rail project has now swelled to more than double its originally proposed cost of $40 billion from fourteen years ago. Construction on a 31-mile segment of the project has already begun near Fresno in the Central Valley.

The fight now is over whether or not to complete the segment, which would run through only three counties; or, as the state’s Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon is calling for, to focus on the “bookends” (San Fransico and Los Angeles) in a cost-saving venture that would maintain at least some portion of the rail’s original intent and purpose to unite the two most populous nodes.

“The project is by all objective measures in distress,” Rendon told the Times. “Connecting the two largest urban areas in the state is the best thing we can do from an environmental standpoint and an economic development standpoint. To link two cities in the Central Valley would doom the project.”

...

Nowhere fast: California's High-Speed Rail project is now twice the size of its originally proposed budget

2022-02-16T20:50:00-05:00

The cost to build California’s ambitious but long delayed high-speed rail line has once again risen, with rail officials now estimating it could take up to $105 billion to finish the line from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The project’s price tag has steadily risen since voters first approved nearly $10 billion in bond money for it in 2008, when the total cost was pegged at $40 billion.

The additional need for money stems from necessary sound barrier upgrades and repositioning of the train away from the Central Valley’s Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, according to project officials. The state is confident it can raise the necessary funds from the new federal infrastructure bill, which includes about $55 billion in allocations for transit grants over the next four years.

The 500-mile-long project is still severely lagging in the area of public funding but has nevertheless managed to acquire about 90% of the land parcels needed to complete the project, according to an updated 2022 budget plan released by the California High Speed Rail Authority. A portion of the project is also being funded by the state’s cap-and-trade program, which has been itself been under-resourced as a partial result of the reduction in travel caused by the coronavirus.

Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed rail project is back on track

2021-05-06T12:50:00-04:00

Brightline West, an affiliate of Brightline, the country’s only privately owned passenger railroad, is planning a 170-mile high-speed rail line, which would connect Las Vegas to the Apple Valley community in San Bernardino County. Set to travel at a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour, trains on Brightline West are expected to make the trip in half the time compared to driving. Trains would depart every 45 minutes with each offering a capacity between 600 and 1,200 passengers.

While Brightline West originally expected to begin construction by the end of 2020, the project faced significant setbacks due to the pandemic. One such being a lack of interest in private equity bonds allocated for the project by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the states of Nevada and California to pay for the construction. A letter by Brightline to the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority obtained by USA Today attributes election uncertainty, the lack of approval of a COVID-19 vaccine, and a lack of ...

High-speed rail project linking Las Vegas and Southern California takes step forward

2020-07-08T14:56:00-04:00

DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, an affiliate of Virgin Trains USA, has struck a lease deal with the California DOT (Caltrans) for a right of way along Interstate 15 as part of its $4.8 billion, 170-mile XpressWest bullet train from Southern California to Las Vegas.

First mentioned on Archinect last September, the planned 170-mile long high-speed rail line that could connect Las Vegas with Southern California's Apple Valley station, about 90 miles northeast of Downtown Los Angeles, is making progress.

XpressWest, a Brightline company and subsidiary of Virgin Trains USA, has reached a lease agreement with the California Department of Transportation to use existing State right-of-way along Interstate 15.

According to the official Caltrans announcement, an environmental study estimated that "the completed project will reduce carbon emissions by 300,000 metric tons a year – the equivalent of removing nearly 65,000 vehicles off the road."

The privately financed project hopes to break ground later this year and reach completion in 2023.

Planning for Texas Central High-Speed Rail continues apace

2019-12-17T18:55:00-05:00

A long-in-the-works plan to link Houston and Dallas with high-speed rail is making steady progress as backers for the project announce that they could be one year away from breaking ground.

Earlier this year, Archinect reported that Texas Central Texas Central, the group advocating for and developing the planned train route, had signed a deal with Italian construction giant Salini Impreglio and its American subsidiary Lane Construction to design and construct the train line.

This month, Dallas News reports that Texas Central has submitted environmental and safety documentation to the federal government with the aim of having approvals to start construction by the summer of 2020.

Map highlighting the route to be taken by the proposed train. (Courtesy of Texas Central)

Holly Reed, Texas Central’s managing director of external affairs, tells Dallas News, “We’ve had our heads down working on this for a long time ... The conversation has shifted from, ‘Is this really going to happen?’ to...

100 MPH commuter rail plan could modernize San Diego's highways

2019-10-22T12:47:00-04:00

The San Diego Association of Governments’ ambitious rail plan includes laying hundreds of miles of track throughout the county to connect residential areas to these job centers. Agency experts are analyzing the region’s commuter patterns in an attempt to design rail service that lures commuters off the most congested highway corridors. The lines, many of which are planned as subways, will go through existing residential areas with the added aim of encouraging dense development along the routes.

The ambitious plan could be funded by a series of sales tax increases, which would have to be approved by local voters.

SANDAG Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata told The San Diego Union-Tribune, “I think this region is more suited to follow-up with transit-oriented development than any other region in the country,” adding, “All California and the U.S. is designed around the car, around the interstate system. It took 50 years to have the land-use we have. It’s going to take 50 years to reverse it with the rail.”

Pacific Northwest High-Speed Rail study advances with help from Microsoft

2019-10-13T09:00:00-04:00

Microsoft is giving another $223,667 to study the possibility of building a high-speed rail line connecting Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, and Portland, adding to a previous donation. The company is providing a total of $573,667 to the project. Other funders include the Province of British Columbia; the Oregon Department of Transportation; and Washington Department of Transportation.

According to Geek Wire, The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) estimates that the proposed Cascadia Rail high-speed rail system connecting the three cities could spark $355 billion in economic growth in the region, while bringing in around $160 million to $250 million in annual revenue for the rail authority.

In total, the high-speed rail project could cost anywhere from $24 billion to $42 billion to build, reports Geek Wire. WSDOT also expects the high-speed rail to contribute to significant reductions in carbon emissions over time.

Delivery of high-speed rail between Los Angeles and Anaheim could be sped up

2019-10-09T15:30:00-04:00

Ridership on Metrolink would double between Burbank and Anaheim, relieving freeway congestion, and new high-speed electric trains would slash emissions along the route under a plan that would shift up to $5.5 billion from the bullet train project in the Central Valley to Southern California.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the California High-Speed Rail Authority could funnel a portion of the $20.5 billion already earmarked for the state's new train system toward a high-speed link connecting Southern California.

The funding would improve regional commuter rail services offered by Metrolink, which operates 528 miles of track across the area, by boosting train speeds up to 125 miles-per-hour along certain stretches of the route.

Fire engulfs Foster + Partners-designed High-Speed Rail station in Saudi Arabia

2019-09-30T15:15:00-04:00

Arab News reports that the fire broke out at the Suleimaniyah rail station on Sunday in Jeddah, leaving five injured.

Saudi Arabia’s Haramain High-Speed Railway opened in 2018 and ferried Hajj pilgrims throughout the country for the first time earlier this year. The line’s five stations, including the one at Jeddah that caught fire, are designed by Foster + Partners and Buro Happold.

View of one of the four Foster + Partners-designed stations along the HHR line. Image courtesy of Nigel Young / Foster + Partners, © Nigel Young.

According to various social media posts, the fire burned out of control into Monday morning. Firefighters took roughly 12 hours to fully bring the blaze under control. A cause for the fire has not been discovered or announced.

Construction Week Online reports that the fire damaged the second floor and roof of the station but that the ground and first floors of the complex had been spared. The publication also reported that Saudi Arabia's Minister of Transpo...

Texas High-Speed Rail route takes a big step forward

2019-09-16T12:45:00-04:00

Texas Central, the private company developing the Texas Bullet Train, announced it had signed a deal with Salini Impregilo, the Italian construction giant, and its American subsidiary, Lane Construction, to design, construct and install the 240-mile high-speed rail line using Japan’s Shinkansen trains.

The plan to build a 90-minute bullet train between Dallas and Houston still requires a number of local, state, and federal approvals before it can move forward.

Nonetheless, backers of the project are raising funding for the initiative and setting out to complete early design work. Texas Central optimistically hopes to break ground sometime in 2020.

L.A.'s Union Station overhaul receives $400 million from California High Speed Rail

2019-09-13T19:00:00-04:00

The California High-Speed Rail Authority and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) have reached a funding agreement that will bring $400 million in public funds to the Link Union Station project.

Link US, as the project is widely known, aims to retrofit Los Angeles's Union Station to facilitate the creation of "through-service" regional commuter rail—and in the future, High Speed Rail—routes connecting the station with locations north, south, and east of Los Angeles.

View of the proposed run-through track improvements proposed for the station. Image courtesy of Metro.

Currently, the station's track configuration leaves Union Station as the dead-end of several regional rail systems; When the improvements are completed in coming years, the station will be able to facilitate regional rail travel up and down the California coast while also cutting down on the amount of time trains spend idling at the station. Los Angeles Union Station currently connects r...

Construction on high-speed rail line linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas on the horizon

2019-09-03T15:30:00-04:00

Virgin Trains USA Vice President Bob O’Malley told delegates at the Nevada Economic Development Conference that design work was 30% complete and that the proposed line between the Las Vega strip and Victorville, on the northeast outskirts of Los Angeles, would be using the Virgin Trains’ Florida project as its model. The line will span [185 miles] with trains travelling up to [149 miles] per hour, which would clock a journey time of approximately 75 minutes.

Virgin Trains USA is reportedly seeking financing for the project, which could shuttle up to 22 million travelers per year between the two metropolitan regions.

The outfit, which is also behind the successful Brightline train line in Florida, aims to finish construction of the L.A.-Las Vegas route by 2023. SOM is the designer for three of the Brightline's stations.

Saudi Arabia’s new high-speed rail ferries Hajj pilgrims for the first time

2019-08-12T14:00:00-04:00

High-speed rail service will be available for the first time this year during Hajj, the pilgrimage by Muslims to Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca. Some of the millions of pilgrims expected to make the journey will be riding Haramain High Speed Rail, which links Mecca to Medina and passes through three stations: Jeddah, King Abdul Aziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh.

The route's four larger-than-life train stations are designed by Foster + Partners and BuroHappold as international gateways for each host city, and are based on traditional and ancient design motifs that prioritize the creation of breezy spaces that are protected from the sun.

HSR could come to Colorado's Front Range

2019-06-05T17:33:00-04:00

Grauberger says they've already ruled out light rail because it would be too slow to travel the 173-mile route. "We need higher speeds to be competitive with the interstate system," he says.

Regional governments in Colorado are studying ways for boosting the Front Range Urban Corridor region's interconnectivity. Officials expect the regional population to grow by 1.7 million inhabitants over the next 25 years and are looking to position that future growth to take advantage of forthcoming non-automobile-dependent transportation infrastructure.

Project director Randy Grauberger tells KDVR, "All of those people aren't going to want to be traveling on I-25 at that point, so this will give them options."

A 100-mile corridor between Fort Collins, Denver, and Pueblo, Colorado could see a new high-speed rail line take shape over the next five years, according to officials. Acquiring the appropriate right-of-way is a key concern, as is the price tag. A cost estimate for the proposal has not been released, though Colorado officials will be working through the summer to fine tune their ideas.

Zaha Hadid Architects unveils latest photos of serpentine Napoli Afragola railway station

2018-08-29T15:57:00-04:00

Located about 7 miles north of Naples, the Napoli Afragola railway station designed by Zaha Hadid Architects has been operating for a year now. To mark the occasion, the firm released some new photos of the snake-like building taken by Hufton + Crow.

As part of Italy's expanding high-speed rail network in preparation of growing demands for train travel, the new station is the first part of a multi-phase project expected to be complete in 2022. Inaugurated last year with 18 high-speed trains in each direction, services will increase to 28 trains as new infrastructure is built. Most recently, the train station received the 2018 Surface Travel Award for Transportation.

Located within Italy's new north/south high-speed rail corridor, Napoli Afragola will connect some 15 million of Southern Italy's residents with the national railway network. It will also enable goods and passengers from Europe and northern Italy to have easier access to Italy'...

Reality checking the Hyperloop hyperbole

2016-01-19T13:25:00-05:00

[Hyperloop] has the swagger of Elon Musk rather than the stigma of a public bureaucracy. Second, it’s going to be, like, a billion times faster than HSR. [...] And yet, this combination of enthusiasm and magnetism doesn’t buy farmland. It doesn’t ease eminent domain takings. It doesn’t blast through bedrock or relocate utilities. It doesn’t design station area plans. [...] The very same mountains, cities, canals, farmers, and habitats that complicate HSR also complicate Hyperloop.

For past reporting on Hyperloop in all its emerging forms:

Unpacking the Hyperloop's lofty promises

2015-09-15T13:09:00-04:00

even given that the Hyperloop whitepaper was a rough sketch, the most important elements of the plan—its speed and price—have been vastly oversold. [...] But there’s a final reason to be skeptical, not just of the technical details of the Hyperloop, but of the supposedly utopian motives behind it: It may not even be Musk’s idea.

More on the much hyped (and griped) world of Hyperloop: