{"id":506531,"date":"2026-10-24T12:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/506531\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T12:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:20:48","slug":"lawsuit-claims-hsra-tried-to-relocate-merced-station-unlawfully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/506531\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit claims HSRA tried to relocate Merced station unlawfully"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lawsuit is accusing the California High-Speed Rail Authority<\/a> of skirting state laws in its intent to build a smaller Merced station in an undeveloped area rather than a massive one in that city\u2019s downtown.<\/p>\n

The proposed change, which the rail authority has said could save $1 billion<\/a>, is part of a plan to cut costs<\/a> with reduced service in the Central Valley that the agency says could later expand if ridership levels demand it. But to build the Merced station in a different place, the rail authority first needs changes to a state law<\/a> that requires its construction downtown and with connections to other passenger train systems.<\/p>\n

The Community Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, a group that recently sued the rail authority, says the agency has started moving on the relocation despite lacking the needed legislation. The group is also accusing the agency of trying to skip an environmental impact review for the relocation and wants a judge to halt the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis challenge follows an unlawful pattern of behavior by the HSRA \u2014 proposing to relocate the downtown Merced station, then acting as if that move has been approved when it has not,\u201d says the complaint filed Oct. 8 in Sacramento County Superior Court.<\/p>\n

Members of two community organizations involved in the plaintiff group \u2014 Faith in the Valley and Valley Voices \u2014 did not respond to requests for an interview Tuesday. The rail authority declined to respond to the suit\u2019s allegations, citing a policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation.<\/p>\n

The agency has faced backlash in Merced since last year, when it published documents that included Central Valley build out scenarios that did not include Merced<\/a> at all in the project\u2019s initial segment. The rail authority then pitched its station relocation idea in January and has since frustrated local officials<\/a> who want the agency to face Merced residents and explain it.<\/p>\n

The agency has said it needs various changes to the project to finish construction in the Central Valley at a cost of $35.7 billion by 2033. But Merced advocates have argued the plan to relocate their city\u2019s station betrays the state\u2019s promise that the train would help spur economic growth in the region.<\/p>\n

\"A A rendering shows a train would look like traveling on high-speed rail tracks. COURTESY OF CA HIGH-SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY CA Rail taking \u2018steps\u2019 to station relocation, suit says<\/p>\n

The community alliance\u2019s lawsuit alleges the rail authority has tried to skirt a 2022 state law called SB 198 as well as requirements in the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA.<\/p>\n

SB 198 defines the Central Valley high-speed rail segment as a 171-mile route from Bakersfield to downtown Merced \u2014 with the downtown Merced station including connections to the Amtrak and Altamont Corridor Express passenger train services.<\/p>\n

But the lawsuit points out that the rail authority\u2019s board in June approved an official business plan<\/a> that assumes the agency will relocate Merced\u2019s station from downtown to a rural area a few miles south off Highway 99 and Mission Avenue. That business plan does note that amending SB 198 is necessary to accommodate the new station area.<\/p>\n

Then, the lawsuit notes, the rail authority began looking for engineers for civil work \u2014 such as structures and guide way \u2014 from Madera to Merced while describing that segment as one from Madera County to \u201cjust south of Mission Avenue\u201d in solicitation documents<\/a>. The agency is expected to release separate design solicitation documents specifically for the Merced station in the future.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit says the rail authority continued to take steps toward relocating the Merced station last month, when it filed a notice with the state that its \u201cSouth Merced Station Project\u201d was exempt from an environmental impact review. The Sept. 4 notice<\/a> from the rail authority said the project was exempt because the proposed new station location is within the \u201cresource study area\u201d of an environmental study done in 2012.<\/p>\n

But the lawsuit against the rail authority says the agency never provided any proof of that. A letter to the state<\/a> dated Oct. 8 \u2014 the same day the community alliance sued the rail authority \u2014 shows the agency then requested to withdraw the notice.<\/p>\n

The agency said in the letter that it was conducting further review, which it described as \u201ca procedural action taken prior to finalizing station locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit says the entire situation has undermined \u201cCEQA\u2019s purpose as a tool for government accountability and transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe HSRA continues to circumvent the legislative process by taking steps to relocate the station without legislative approval, public debate, or disclosure of impacts or consequences of doing so,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 5:25 AM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Erik Galicia<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Erik is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, where he helped launch an effort to better meet the news needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of his community college student newspaper, Riverside City College Viewpoints, where he covered the impacts of the Salton Sea\u2019s decline on its adjacent farm worker communities in the Southern California desert.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A lawsuit is accusing the California High-Speed Rail Authority of skirting state laws in its intent to build…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-506531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}