LV-to-LA rail project lands billions more in federal funding
Brightline West’s momentum toward breaking ground this year on their planned Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed rail line received another major federal boost.
The planned 218-mile, high-speed rail line, primarily run along the Interstate 15 median with trains capable of reaching 186 mph, received the approval of $2.5 billion in private activity bonding authority, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.
Private activity bonds are a debt instrument authorized by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to be used for highway or freight projects, allowing a private company to benefit from tax exempt municipal bonds.
That brings the total Brightline is approved from the DOT to $3.5 billion in private activity bonds, with $1 billion approved in 2021.
The private activity bond allocation follows last month’s $3 billion federal grant award from the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Buttigieg said the bonding authority will allow Brightline to lay tracks and create jobs while opening up a high-speed train corridor between Southern Nevada and Southern California.
“President Biden’s historic infrastructure package gives us the opportunity to build safe, green, and accessible rail systems that will deliver benefits to the American people for generations to come,” Buttigieg said in a statement.
The Nevada Department of Transportation served as the grant administrator in the filing, with the $3 billion secured amounting to the largest grant award in the department’s history.
The project’s remaining cost will be paid by debt and private capital. With the latest awarding of federal private activity bonds, Brightline isn’t expected to pursue private activity bonds from California and Nevada, as the company did previously.
Brightline plans to break ground this year on the project, with hopes of having the system online before the 2028 Olympics games in Los Angeles.
Outside of Las Vegas, plans call for Brightline stations to be built in Hesperia, Apple Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, California. Travelers will be able to travel to and from downtown Los Angeles from the Rancho Cucamonga station via the Metrolink.
“Connecting Las Vegas and Southern California will provide widespread public benefits to both states, creating thousands of jobs and jump-starting a new level of economic competitiveness for the region,” Brightline Founder and Chairman Wes Edens said in a statement. “We appreciate the confidence placed in us by DOT and are ready to get to work.”
Brightline says the high-speed rail project aims to benefit tourism and will create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, ease traffic on I-15, and cut more than 400,000 tons of carbon pollution each year.
“Building a high speed rail corridor from Las Vegas to Southern California will drive economic investment and opportunity across the region,” U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg said. “Residents and visitors alike will benefit from access to a fast and sustainable travel option that better connects key cities.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
