Skip to main content

Las Vegas 'bullet train' ready to build

 

Brightline, the railroad company that's linking Miami to Orlando with its new high-speed line, says it's ready to start construction on its other project, a West Coast high-speed line that would ultimately link Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

Brightline West CEO Mike Reininger told the Reno Gazette that it expects to start construction in the second quarter of this year, and that financing uncertainties were no longer holding up the project. As recently as January, the company had said that “election uncertainty, the lack of approval of a Covid-19 vaccine, and lack of liquidity in the market" were making it hard to sell the bonds it needed to get going.

Brightline's plan calls for a 200-mph line running from Victorville, California, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles to Las Vegas. For most of its length, the route would run in the median strip of I-5.

The plan has shifted repeatedly since it was first proposed over ten years ago. Until recently, Victorville was planned as the southern terminus because a route into LA was considered too expensive; more recently the plan has extended from Victorville to an eventual connection with an LA to San Francisco high-speed line that is in California's transportation plan.

Ironically, Brightline, which is the only privately-owned intercity railroad in the U.S., may have competition for the route. Amtrak's proposed expansion, to be funded in the Biden administration's infrastructure bill, includes an LA to Las Vegas link of its own.

The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

Add Comment

Comments (0)

Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×