Kings–Tulare Regional Station is a proposed California High-Speed Rail station serving Kings County and Tulare County, California. It would be located near the intersection of Hanford Expressway and Central Valley Highway, just east of the city limits of Hanford and less than 20mi west of the larger city of Visalia. The construction of the station has been controversial, with Tulare County supporting the station while Kings County, where the station would be located, has strongly opposed the entire California High-Speed Rail project. The station is part of the Initial Construction Segment expected to be completed by 2017.HistoryThe current Amtrak San Joaquin service in the Central Valley uses the BNSF Railway tracks through the center of Hanford, stopping at an existing station there. However, a high-speed rail route along this alignment was strongly opposed by Hanford city officials, who said that it would disrupt the city's historic downtown. This meant that only routes that bypassed Hanford city limits were considered. An alignment along Route 99 was ruled out due to the extra expense and uncertain cooperation from Union Pacific Railroad, which has its own track in the vicinity. This left routes through rural areas, which ran into opposition from farmers whose land would be taken.
