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Brightline West “moving towards a ground-break later this year.”

Illustration of Brightline west train speeds through a valley with lanes of blurry traffic on either side.
Illustration provided by Brightline West.

It’s been a busy summer for Brightline West, the planned passenger rail service connecting Las Vegas to southern California. After clearing several major hurdles, Brightline West’s president Sarah Watterson said in a statement that they are “moving towards a ground-break later this year.”

On June 28th, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) and Brightline West are receiving a $25 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant to design and build the Victor/Apple Valley and Hesperia stations on the route to Rancho Cucamonga from Las Vegas. The grant is going to SBCTA because they will be responsible for building the stations.

Two weeks later, on July 12th, environmental review and permitting for the Hesperia/Apple Valley to Rancho Cucamonga part of the line was finished. The Federal Rail Administration found no significant environmental impacts. The nearly 50 miles of line would be within the right of way of Interstate Highway 15. Brightline plans to invest an additional $800 million towards improvements to the I-15 corridor.

This finding of no significant impact includes the Hesperia and Rancho Cucamonga stations. Hesperia’s station also contains the maintenance facility and a power substation. The Las Vegas to Apple Valley section of the line was approved in 2011 and reviewed in 2020.

Last week, on August 1st, the Clark County Commission unanimously passed a resolution supporting an additional $3.75 billion grant for the Nevada Department of Transportation through the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program, part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“When completed, the Brightline West high-speed route between southern California and Las Vegas will provide key access to rail transportation to a growing, diverse population now critically unserved by passenger rail,” said the Nevada Rail Coalition in a letter to USDOT in March. “Brightline West will serve as a powerful example of the possibilities of high-speed rail for other cities and regions.”

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Update on Brightline West Including Coalition Letter of Support

Rendering of Brightline West train speeding through a desert valley surrounded by mountains with blurry cars on either side.
Illustration provided by Brightline West.

In March, the Nevada Rail Coalition sent a letter of support to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of the Nevada Department of Transportation and Brightline West’s grant application for Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail funds. 

As we explain in our letter, Las Vegas currently has no passenger rail service. Brightline West would connect southern California and Las Vegas, providing key access to a growing, diverse population now critically unserved by passenger rail. This multi-generational infrastructure investment would also serve as a powerful example of what high-speed rail could do for other areas, as well as improving equity and climate change resiliency.

The project will bolster additional economic activity for the region by creating over 35,000 construction jobs (10,000+ of which will be union) and approximately 1,000 permanent jobs (900 of which will be union). Brightline West is asking for $3.75 billion in federal funding, and the other 70% of the $10 billion will come from private sources.

The Nevada Rail Coalition shares the Biden administration’s climate goals, which this system would align with. It would divert millions of car rides totaling over 700 million fewer vehicle miles traveled per year to a faster, more efficient, zero-emission transportation option. This is equivalent to removing an estimated 400,000 tons of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere.

Read our letter below.

Nevada Rail Coalition Brightline grant support letter march 2023 FINALDownload

In April, a bipartisan group of congressional representatives from Nevada and California also submitted a letter in support of the grant. The Federal Railroad Administration is expected to finalize permits in July. Read more here.

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Inching towards Vegas: Brightline West Releases Environmental Documents for Cajon Pass

High Speed Rail Alliance reports that Brightline West has released an Environmental Assessment for the Cajon Pass section of the Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed rail project. This is an important milestone that had to be completed before construction could begin.

Graphic from High Speed Rail Alliance

In a newsletter to members, High Speed Rail Alliance writes:

“The Cajon Pass Segment is a 49-mile high-speed line between Victor Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, CA. The segment includes two new railway stations, one in Hesperia and another in Rancho Cucamonga, while the Victor Valley station is part of a previous environmental report. For this segment, Brightline West is proposing to use 48 miles of I-15 right-of-way and the station at Hesperia, under a lease agreement with the California Department of Transportation.

Brightline West also recently reached an agreement to acquire five acres for the station at Rancho Cucamonga. This station is a critical part of the project, as high-speed trains will connect with Metrolink here, allowing riders access to and from LA Union Station and over 60 other Metrolink stations. High-speed rail service could eventually be extended from Rancho Cucamonga directly into LA Union Station, connecting to the California High-Speed Rail network.

As Brightline West continues to move forward, there’s optimism that we could have American high-speed rail in operation by the end of the decade.”

V&T Steam Engine emerging from a tunnel in Gold Hill, Nevada.