NORWALK — Nine area cities have not approved the proposed high-speed train project through their communities and will sue if the state High-Speed Rail Authority doesn’t work with the cities to mitigate problems, according to Norwalk City Manager Ernie Garcia.

Garcia addressed the City Council here Oct. 6 on the issue following meetings with state rail officials Oct. 2 in Los Angeles and Sept. 28 at the 30-member Gateway Cities Council of Governments in Paramount.

Other affected cities are Vernon, Commerce, Montebello, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada, Buena Park and Anaheim.

Santa Fe Springs City Manager Fred Latham Monday echoed Garcia’s concerns and said a three-way agreement is being prepared concerning procedure with the cities, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the rail authority.

At issue are announced plans of the California High Speed Rail Authority for an 800-mile route between San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego, which would run trains through area cities, using existing tracks, between 100 and 200 miles an hour with a train every eight to 12 minutes when fully operational, the state group estimates.

No specific timetable has been announced by the state.

Anaheim has not formally approved the plan even though Mayor Curt Pringle, heads the authority’s Board of Directors, Garcia said.

Garcia was among the administrators and elected officials from the cities who met with Pringle and rail authority representatives Oct. 2 and Sept. 28. The authority’s executive director, Mehdi Morshed, attended the latter session but didn’t say much, Garcia said.

They were mostly public information consultants who did not have answers to specific questions, Garcia said.

“Those guys didn’t have a clue. We need more information,” said Norwalk Mayor Cheri Kelley, who attended the meetings.

California voters last November approved the sale of $9.95 billion dollars in bonds to help finance the state project. The authority is now seeking federal stimulus funds and is pressuring cities for support before deciding details of the project, Garcia said.

The most recently proposed route from Union Station in Los Angeles would be through parts of Vernon, Commerce, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs and Norwalk, then the potential route continues southeast through La Mirada, Buena Park and into a station planned in Fullerton.

A major station is proposed in Santa Fe Springs, about half a mile north of the existing Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink depot on Imperial Highway east of Bloomfield Avenue, in Santa Fe Springs.

Montebello and Commerce also share a Metrolink station.

In a report to the Norwalk City Council, Assistant City Manager Tom Lynch, said it would be a problem to connect Metrolink passengers with a high-speed rail depot nearby.

Some type of people mover or shuttle would be needed.

In addition, the authority staff estimates such a depot would require parking for some 3,000 to 3,500 vehicles, with that cost falling to the communities.

“The city does not have the financial resources necessary to undertake this type of improvements,” Lynch said.

Further, the impact to Norwalk would be tremendous, resulting in traffic congestion along the city’s main roads, which are already crowded.

Construction of the railroad tracks and a giant parking lot could require taking residential and commercial properties and cause a realignment of tracks through the Metrolink station and system, which runs from Los Angeles to Oceanside in San Diego County, Lynch said.

In some areas, elevated tracks would run as high as 80 feet above the ground, causing further noise and pollution, he added, noting there are no plans for soundwalls to reduce train noise. Some parts of the planned route would be under ground.

In areas where the train would run at ground level, soundwalls would have to be built on either side to shield residents from noise, Garcia said.

Authority officials say the trains, run by electricity, would alleviate the need for billions of dollars in new freeways for transportation by 2030.

The 800-mile system would carry more than 100 million passengers a year and by 2030 would create $11 billion annually in direct benefits to Californians, backers say.

In 2030, the high-speed train will generate 320,000 permanent jobs, growing to 450,000 jobs in 2035. The system will also reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12 billion pounds per year, they add.

With high-speed trains operating on a dedicated right-of-way at speeds up to 220 mph, the express travel time from downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles will be just over 2.5 hours, they say.

The California High Speed Rail Authority has nothing to do with the Orange Line Development Authority, a joint powers group developed by a number of Southeast cities several years ago with plans to use the abandoned Union Pacific railway tracks that made up the old Red Car electric system last century. That line would run through Los Angeles, Vernon, Huntington Park, South Gate, Paramount, Downey, Bellflower and into Orange County to Irvine.

Orange Line officials say their magnetic-powered train will travel 200 to 250 miles an hour on elevated tracks, making little noise.

They say there is no conflict with the statewide authority as the Orange Line would be for local use and funded by private companies.