The team proposing to build a monorail mostly in the median of the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass that would connect San Fernando Valley with the Westside has added a public transportation services company to its group in its effort to be chosen for LA Metro’s mega project.
Los Angeles SkyRail Express (LASRE) announced on April 6 that Keolis in North America has joined the project, with existing equity partners John Laing and BYD (Build Your Dreams), a train manufacturing company. This may complete the L.A. SkyRail Express team, said Michael Hoghooghi, project director for LASRE on April 12.
“In terms of the broader team, we’ve got all the wheels on the bus. We are good,” Hoghooghi said. “I am very happy with the makeup of the team we’ve got.”
Other team members involved in construction, engineering, finance and technology include Skanska, a construction entity; HDR, a transit design firm; Innova, a company doing structural design for monorail projects in Cairo, Egypt, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Las Vegas; and Gensler, an LA-based architectural firm.
L.A. SkyRail Express was awarded a predevelopment agreement contract worth $63.6 million from LA Metro in August 2021 for developing the monorail concept. It would have an aerial alignment primarily within the 405 right-of-way between the Valley and Westside. Travelers would get from San Fernando Valley to the Westside in 24 minutes. The project is expected to cost about $6.1 billion.
The group estimates a peak line capacity of up to 22,000 passengers per hour, per direction. Monorail vehicles would arrive every two minutes.
More than 400,000 people travel the 405 and its nearby surface streets each weekday and 98% are in cars, Metro has reported.
L.A. SkyRail Express (LASRE) is competing against Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners, which is made up of Bechtel, Meridiam Infrastructure and American Triple I Partners.
Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners (STCP) proposes mostly heavy rail with…
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