USA: The Los Angeles Metro board has unanimously approved the selection of a metro rather than a monorail as the Locally Preferred Alternative for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project. This aims to provide a high-capacity rail connection between the San Fernando Valley and Westside to relieve road congestion in the Sepulveda Pass through the Santa Monica mountains.
Metro versus monorail
In 2021 the LAMTA board awarded the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners consortium a contract to develop a concept for a driverless metro, and the LA SkyRail Express consortium a similar contract to develop a straddle monorail alternative.
LAMTA staff evaluated three metro and two monorail options before selecting Modified Alternative 5, a fully underground metro which would run between the Van Nuys Metrolink station in the Valley and the E Line’s Expo/Sepulveda station on the Westside, with seven stations.
At the Van Nuys end, this option would offer an interchange with the Metro G Line and the future East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Project between Van Nuys, Panorama City, Arleta and Pacoima. Atthe Westside end, there would be a station on UCLA’s campus and easy transfers to the D and E lines.
The project aims to provide a fast and reliable 20 min end-to-end trip, compared to the unpredictable 40 to 80 min it can take by car. Automated trains would run every 2·5 min at peak times
The preferred option includes a single-bore tunnel and a route along Van Nuys Boulevard in the Valley rather than Sepulveda Boulevard. The initial operating segment would run between the G Line in Van Nuys and the D Line on the Westside, with a journey time of about 10 min.
LAMTA said the monorail alternatives did not meet its goals as well as Modified Alternative 5, particularly with regards to ridership, travel times and cost-effectiveness.
Next steps
The LPA selected by the LAMTA board on January 22 will be used as the basis for environmental analysis and further development. The capital cost is initially estimated at $24·2bn at 2023 prices, to be updated as design work progresses.
Initial funding was included in 2008 and 2016 sales tax measures approved by voters, but additional funding will be required from federal, state and local sources, with potential private financing through a public-private partnership.
Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners
The STCP consortium comprises Bechtel, Meridiam and American Triple I as equity members.
Bechtel would serve as lead contractor, supported by Mott Macdonald, TY Lin and Systra. SCTP selected RATP Dev to develop an operations and maintenance concept, Stadler Rail to supply the trains and Siemens Mobility the signalling and control equipment.
