April 14,2015
Hanford City Manager Darrel Pyle says the city will go out to hire a consultant to plan the high speed rail station on the east side of town.”We are expecting an $800,000 planning grant from the High Speed Rail Authority so we expect to publish a Request For Proposals(RFP) be the end of this month.”
Pyle says part of the planning effort will include a partnership with NAS Lemoore and the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) to connect both the naval base and Tulare County to the station with a possible light rail system.”
The 25 acre station will be located astride the Cross Valley Rail near 198 making a direct rail connection east-west possible.
With the expansion of the naval base underway the US Defense Department is said to have a strong interest in local transportation project.
Regarding Tulare County,TCAG deputy director Ben Giuliani confirms that agency’s participation.
Visalia transit manager Monty Cox says “We will absolutely have a connection to the Hanford station but it is more likely to be a bus connection than light rail.” The city has its Sequoia Shuttle program that could wisk HS rail visitors to Visalia hotels and up to Sequoia. Over 30% of Sequoia visitors are from overseas.
