California High-Speed Rail Central Valley Stations

California High-Speed Rail Central Valley Stations

The California High-Speed Rail system will introduce fully electric trains traveling up to 200 miles per hour across California. The initial 171-mile operating segment includes four stations in the Central Valley: Merced, Fresno, Kings-Tulare, and Bakersfield.

Led by Foster + Partners and Arup, the team is defining the identity of the system through the design of these first stations and station areas. Studio-MLA leads landscape architecture for station areas and early activation projects, collaborates on urban design, and supports community engagement.

Together, the stations establish a new model for public infrastructure. A shared kit-of-parts approach supports efficiency and consistency, while allowing each station to express its city’s character. The stations serve as civic gateways, shaping arrival, movement, and public life around a new mode of transportation.

The landscape design anchors each station in local context, community, and history while contributing to a cohesive statewide system. The high-performance landscape improves ecosystem services through endemic plant species and sustainable stormwater management that support habitat connectivity, pollinators, carbon sequestration, and improved air and water quality. Each station responds to its specific environmental conditions, acknowledging Indigenous histories, regional hydrology, and connections to surrounding open-space and conservation networks.

Merced Station: Located in downtown Merced, the station builds on the city’s historic connection to Yosemite and the growing UC Merced campus. The station area improves flood resilience, enhances environmental conditions, and strengthens links to the surrounding open-space network.

Fresno Station: The Fresno station reconnects downtown and Chinatown through new public spaces and restored rail infrastructure. Early projects include two public plazas and the rehabilitation of the historic passenger rail depot, creating the system’s first civic amenities and supporting reinvestment in Chinatown.

Kings-Tulare Station: Situated near Hanford, the Kings-Tulare station supports planned regional growth and multimodal access by bus, car, bicycle, and future rail. The landscape design references the history of Tulare Lake through a centralized stormwater treatment strategy integrated into public space.

Bakersfield Station: At the southern end of the initial segment, the Bakersfield station anchors future expansion of the downtown core. A series of shaded public spaces beneath the rail viaduct connects downtown Bakersfield to the Kern River corridor.

The project supports the Authority’s Small Business Program and has engaged more than 30 small business enterprise consultants to date.