LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Agencies in California and Nevada have issued private activity bonds for the Brightline West project, a key element in funding the 218-mile high-speed rail venture between Las Vegas and Southern California.
It is not clear whether the start of construction is contingent on obtaining money from the combined $2.5 billion in bonds offered by the California Infrastructure and Development Bank and Nevada’s Department of Business and Industry. The bonds, now being evaluated by institutional investors, are just one component in financing the $12.4 billion project, along with federal and state grants and loans.
Bond documents did acknowledge that the system would not meet its previously expressed goal of completion in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics [see “Brightline West now expecting to launch …..,” News Wire Jan. 26, 2025].
Nevertheless, shovels-in-the-ground work is poised to begin. The destination for the project’s first phase is a Metrolink Station-parking garage complex to be built at Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., about 42 miles from Los Angeles Union Station on the commuter operator’s ex-Santa Fe San Bernardino line.
Tracks between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga will generally be positioned in the median of Interstate 15. The highway features steep ascending and descending grades of up to 6% at several locations, including a path following I-15’s northbound lanes up and over Cajon Pass. Because the plan promises to push the limits of worldwide 220-mph rail construction standards and operation to new extremes, Trains News Wire recently followed the route for a look at some of its noteworthy features.
Las Vegas station
Last spring, the company held a ceremonial groundbreaking off of South Las Vegas Boulevard at Robindale Road, south of the Warm Springs interchange [see “Brightline West groundbreaking hailed …,” News Wire, April 22, 2024]. As seen below on Jan. 17, 2025, a billboard facing I-15 had been placed in front of vacant land. The building and platforms will angle to the right of the sign; the control tower of Harry Reid International Airport is visible in the distance. A facility housing the airport’s rental car operations (now far from the terminals) is set to be built near distant buildings visible to the left of the sign. Rental cars will thus be within a shorter shuttle distance to the Brightline station than the airport.
Cactus Avenue along I-15
Vehicle Maintenance Facility, Sloan, Nev.
Geothermal soil samples were taken in November 2024, on land near I-15 at Sloan, Nev., about 10 miles south of the station, where Brightline West’s Vehicle Maintenance Facility will be located. Testing has now been completed, clearing the way for site preparation and construction. Reconfiguration of the highway’s southbound lanes will permit a track to branch off from the main line in the median toward the facility. This location is also near Union Pacific’s Salt Lake City-Los Angeles rail line, from which materials and Siemens trainsets could be delivered. The light-colored horizontal embankment visible in the background supports UP’s tracks.
Yates Well Road
Single track will be initially deployed on about 90% of the route, with double track strategically positioned to accommodate hourly departures in both directions. While top speeds approaching 200 mph are possible here, 15 miles of curving roadway and heavy grades into California will necessarily limit speeds. Further west, there are other stretches where the road is straight but rises and falls on 4% grades.
Barstow BNSF and Main Street
Cajon Pass at California Route 138 and Silverwood Lake
Coming down the south side of Cajon Pass in the narrow median, Brightline West trains would twist through a series of reverse curves on a 6% grade before hitting their stride on a straightaway toward San Bernardino. Northbound trainsets would have a much tougher slog here compared to the ruling 2.2% grade encountered on nearby tracks over Cajon traversed by Amtrak’s Southwest Chief and a host of BNSF and Union Pacific freights.
Transition off I-15
Rancho Cucamonga station
Recent policy changes by the new Trump administration may have introduced an element of uncertainty, but Brightline utilized the same financing strategy during the Trump’s first term to launch its Florida operation. This project’s scope — and potential investment and mobility return — is far greater.
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