Southern California to Las Vegas High-Speed Rail Line To Begin Groundbreaking This Year
Brightline West bounces back following November bond sale postponement
By Evan Symon, April 20, 2021 2:49 pm
Six months after being halted due to bond sale issues, Brightline West announced earlier this month that construction of the Las Vegas-Apple Valley high speed train is now scheduled to begin in the second quarter later this year.
For several years, the Florida-based Brightline has been planning a Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed route, with many issues, such as where the California end terminus should go, being resolved in time. However, financing has remained a big hurdle. Last year, the state of California approved $600 million worth of bond allocations, paving the way for Brightline West, then paired with Virgin Trains USA, to build soon. However, according to Brightline, “election uncertainty, the lack of approval of a Covid-19 vaccine, and lack of liquidity in the market did not allow [Brightline West] to price the bonds to provide long-term stability for the company.”
With no buyers for the bonds, state treasurer Fiona Ma took back the allocation bonds in November and Virgin dropped out of the project, stopping the project indefinitely.
However, since then, Brightline West has revised their financial plan. In a January letter to the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority, Brightline revealed that additional equity will be pumped in and a bond sale redo would take place this year. In California, many local issues were taken care of in the meantime as well, including more construction agreements, environmental permitting, design development, and working on routes from Apple Valley to the Los Angeles basin.
Earlier this month, things had improved so dramatically that Brightline West President Sarah Watterson said that construction would now likely start in the second quarter 2021.
“By the time we were prepared to go to market in the fourth quarter, however, election uncertainty, the lack of approval of a COVID-19 vaccine, and lack of liquidity in the market did not allow us to price the bonds to provide long-term stability for the company,” said Watterson. “Concurrent with our work toward starting construction on the Las Vegas to Apple Valley project, we have also been in discussions with other stakeholders regarding additional potential projects to connect the high-speed rail line from Apple Valley to the Los Angeles Basin.”
Brightline West groundbreaking
Other Brightline officials haven’t zeroed in on a date as of yet, but did confirm that the improving financial situation in the country was putting the project back on track.
“The world changed as a result of the pandemic, but we continued to work wherever we possibly could towards advancing the ball,” Brightline West CEO Mike Reininger said in an interview with the Reno Gazette Journal. “The project remains a very high priority for us. “The tenor of the financial markets today is dramatically different. The stock market is doing incredibly well, people are optimistic about a massive rebound in the economy, jobs are heading in the right direction. That gives us confidence about our ability to keep the project on track.”
However, despite a rough construction start now planned, many critics of the project note that it is not a done deal and may face stiff competition from Amtrak and from those who still wish to drive the route due to station location being in Apple Valley.
“Having a station or terminal outside of the main city you want to draw from has never really worked,” explained mass transportation planner Lucas Young to the Globe. “Low-cost air carriers tried this model with airports and failed. Even the Hindenburg, with a remote New Jersey area attempting to serve the New York market with Zeppelins. But more practically, Amtrak has had a lot of trouble in cities where they placed a station far away from the city center. It’s inconvenient. You can have all the parking in the world, but if you are a good half-hour or hour away by car for a train, few are willing to take it. Plus, there isn’t a lot of interlocking light-rail or public transit for the stations.
“A lot more planning is needed. I’m glad to see it taking off again finally, but we don’t want this to become the headache that is California High-Speed Rail, where they are ballooning up to close to $100 billion now. Brightline needs to make sure they can avoid that.”
More details on the revived Brightline West project are expected later this year, including when ground-breaking is scheduled to take place.
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This is great news. Call me a softie, but I really like trains and hate airport “security.”
California’s entire economy was built on rail in the 19th and early 20th century. Los Angeles developed because of the Red Cars. High Speed Rail is exactly the infrastructure development needed – just like the State Water Project of the 1960’s. It will be very interesting to see the private sector pick up the slack from the pay-to-play chaos of the CAHSR. Also, although 19th century rail and interurban systems were “private” – they were really publicly financed using the favorable credit and window-guidance system similar to investor owned electric utilities. I do believe that publicly subsidized HSR as a utility makes sense, but the boondoggle risk is very strong.
This. is planned to go from Victorville to Vegas. Really, you would leave your car in Victorville?? Unless the plan is to stay at one or two resorts, a car is needed on the strip
I believe they have plants to extend to Metrolink station (Rancho Cucamonga station)
Another financial debacle in the making. What will the real cost be? Another hundred billion dollar train that is never finished? If the business world cannot make it work then all you have is another tax payer funded boondoggle with endless subsidies.
This may sound odd, but I think the project should be rejected solely on the basis of the ugly lime green color used in the “artist’s conception.” Whenever I see that color — used in the past for ugly overpriced painted bike lanes, expensive failed scooter and bike-sharing schemes, and public housing electric car-sharing debacles — I immediately think “boondoggle,” or maybe more accurately, “armed robbery.”
This is a privately funded project. They might get subsidies, but guess where the US rail system came from?
Perhaps Nevada can do what California cannot. Highway 15 is packed bumper-to-bumper on weekends during normal times. Airlines can’t handle all the passenger demand. I like this idea but have my doubts like CW.
Oh yeah, sounds like a dream trip…
Stuck on a “party train” with a bunch of “whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” folks…
I imagine the train cleaners will be kept busy cleaning all SORTS of fluids…
So I guess the social distancing confusion associated with the vaccines (or not) has been rendered solved by this decision???
Party on, Garth – think I’ll leave this one to others, thanks….
Since this plan is for the exclusive benefit of the casinos and the union workers let them pay for the train.
Such a great point, CW.