Zephyr Rail

 The LOSSAN Central Coast Layover Facility project will provide for maintenance of equipment at the northern terminus of the corridor, allow for additional passenger trains to hold overnight, and allow a second morning departure from San Luis Obispo. The proposed project features the construction of a new rail yard, storage and servicing tracks, operations and maintenance buildings, landscape improvements, pedestrian improvements, and safety and security features. As a subconsultant to HDR, Inc., Zephyr Rail is providing track design, operations analysis and high-resolution drone aerial modeling to support the design and environmental document.

As a Subconsultant to Mott MacDonald, Zephyr UAS, Inc. (ZUI) is currently providing Engineering Design, Design Review, Railroad/CPUC Coordination, and Aerial Mapping Services in support of the implementation of four rail infrastructure improvement projects (Balboa Double Track Extension, Brighton to McGinley Double track, Canyon to Santa Clarita Double track and Lancaster terminal improvements) in the Antelope Valley Line (AVL) Study that would enable hourly service to Palmdale and Lancaster and 30-minute service to Santa Clarita. The AVL is Metrolink’s third-busiest line with approximately 7,000 weekday passengers. The AVL Study focuses on the 65.2-mile portion of the rail line between the Burbank Downtown Station and the Lancaster Station for necessary infrastructure improvements. The Antelope Valley Line (AVL) is a 76.6-mile class 4 rail corridor route owned by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and used by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) running Metrolink commuter rail service between Los Angeles Union Station and Lancaster, as well as Union Pacific Railroad for class 1 freight service.

The East San Fernando Valley LRT Project extends 9.2 miles, connecting the Van Nuys Metro Orange Line station to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station. $1.3 billion has been identified for the project, mostly coming from local Measure M, Measure R and State gas tax funds. Once in place, Light Rail Trains similar to the Metro Gold and Expo lines, will operate in the median of Van Nuys Blvd for 6.7 miles from the Metro Orange Line station to San Fernando Road.  At San Fernando Road, trains will transition onto an existing railroad corridor adjacent to San Fernando Road. Trains will operate on a shared corridor with Metrolink’s Valley Subdivision for the final 2.5 miles to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station. Zephyr Rail is responsible for the Preliminary Engineering design of the 2.5 miles of the project along the shared corridor.  The major tasks include the design of LRT alignments for the two Metro tracks, design of commuter alignments for the realignment of the existing Metrolink Valley Subdivision track and a future second commuter track, a pocket track, special trackwork, and coordination with roadway engineers for the at-grade crossings and bike path realignment, station architects for four LRT stations, right-of-way engineers for defining the right-of-way needs through the downtown San Fernando area where the right-of-way is the narrowest, drainage engineers along the railroad corridor, structural engineers for the new bridges over the Pacoima Wash, traffic engineers for modifications to adjacent parking lots, systems engineers for the railroad signal systems for both the LRT tracks and relocated Metrolink track and Traction Power Supply Stations, assistance in coordination with CPUC for the five vehicular at-grade crossings and two pedestrian crossings, and coordination with the Metro Brighton to Roxford Double Track project for joining the future second track.

Zephyr Rail (ZUI) provided aerial mapping and structural engineering services to support Fillmore & Western Railway’s bridge rehabilitation effort. The existing bridge at milepost (MP) 416.32 is an old ballast-deck timber trestle structure, which will be replaced with an open-deck structure with steel stringers. To survey the site’s existing conditions, ZUI utilized its state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to provide aerial mapping of the existing bridge and its approaches. Additionally, ZUI prepared the permitting applications to gain approval from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for this work. ZUI personnel also prepared structural drawings to support the design and construction of this bridge replacement.

The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) is implementing a Capital Projects Program to provide an expansion of the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) services to Stanislaus, Merced and Sacramento counties, and major upgrades to its services. The Stanislaus River Bridge is a new 760-foot-long single-track concrete bridge crossing over the Stanislaus River on the Fresno Subdivision. Incorporating a 20-span structure, two abutments at each end of the bridge and 19 piers between the span sections, the new bridge will be parallel with the existing bridges (a single-track Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) bridge and a Caltrans highway bridge SR-99) with an approximate 50-foot-wide corridor of space between the mainline and freeway bridges. As a subconsultant to the SENER Group, Zephyr Rail is providing UPRR railroad coordination, railroad design compliance reviews, and is responsible for attaining right-of-entry agreements and coordinating flagging and field access.

Phase 2B of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension will extend the Metro Gold Line 12.3 miles from its current terminus in the City of Azusa, located in Los Angeles County, to the Montclair TransCenter, located in San Bernardino County. The project will add six (6) stations in the cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont, and Montclair. The extension from Glendora to Montclair is planned to be built along the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) right-of-way, which was purchased by Metro in the early 1990s for the project. Under this current phase of the Gold Line extension project (Phase 2B), which is identified as the Metrolink Pasadena Subdivision between Towne Ave., MP 105.93 and Irwindale, MP 119.3, the Metro Gold Line Authority has taken a proactive role to control construction safety and scheduling by assuming the Railroad-of-Record designation for the next 5 years, which is anticipated to be the time required to complete the Phase 2B construction. Under this new role as Railroad-of-Record, the Metro Gold Line Authority recognized that it needed support for FRA & CPUC regulation compliance and oversight, as such Metro contracted Zephyr Rail to become the Agencies FRA designated representative. Under this role, Zephyr Rail represents the authority in all FRA-related interactions including:FRA Operations Regulatory Compliance OversightCPUC Regulatory Compliance OversightFRA Training Program OversightFRA Reporting Compliance review and development with KPJV (Contractor)FRA Electronic Filing System Review and Documentation OversightGrade Crossing Safety Compliance & AssuranceInter-Agency Coordination (FGL, SCRRA, FRA & CPUC)Incident Response Team (FGL Agency Rep) i.e., Derailments, Safety, Grade Crossing Incident, FRA Reportable, etc.

​Division 20 Portal Widening Turnback As a subconsultant to DHS Consulting, Inc., Zephyr Rail. (ZUI) is currently providing Construction Management Support Services for the expansion of the Division 20 rail yard located within the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. LA Metro aims to increase service levels on the Metro Red and Purple Lines. In order to support the increase of rail vehicles and improve service times on those lines, the following improvements are needed at the yard site: widening of the heavy rail tunnel portal south of the US-101 freeway, a new turnback facility, and expansion and reconfiguration of rail storage tracks. ZUI staff currently provides engineering design reviews in support of the projected construction date in 2019. Specific services include: constructability reviews for the final design documents; review of construction phasing strategy; attending yard allocation meetings; and providing key coordination services between LA Metro and adjacent stakeholder agencies. Once construction begins, our team will also provide resident engineering, inspection, and safety oversight services over the life of the project.

SCORE Phase I – San Bernardino Line – Marengo Siding In light of the demand on Southern California highways, Metrolink developed the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) program, which will upgrade the regional rail system to meet the current and future needs of the traveling public.  Metrolink hopes to provide a viable alternative to single-occupancy vehicles by implementing improvements along its entire system so that trains operate more frequently and more reliably. Zephyr Rail (ZUI) is participating in this program as a sub-consultant under the STV/Jacobs Joint Venture, which is tasked with SCORE Phase I for the San Bernardino Line.  Under this contract, ZUI is taking charge of studying the viability of a 4000-ft extension of Marengo Siding, near Cal State LA, which will allow for continuous train movement through the area.  ZUI will study different alternatives, develop plans, and prepare a Preliminary Design Report for the extension.