LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Plans for the Brightline West rail line between Las Vegas and Los Angeles continue to move forward.
On Tuesday, Nevada officials announced the U.S. Department of Transportation has approved $3 billion in funding for the project, which is estimated to cost $12 billion. It's a little less than the $3.75 billion that was requested in the original proposal, which was submitted by the Nevada Department of Transportation in April. However, Brightline officials said it will cover enough of the costs to allow construction on the project to begin.
Back in August, Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen told Channel 13 said she expected the U.S. Transportation Department to approve the funding request.
"I'm expecting Secretary Buttigieg will award this funding. Why? Because we are shovel-ready," Rosen said at the time. "Brightline West has already completed regulatory approvals and environmental approvals needed for the first time in history. Over the next few weeks, over 100 permits will be complete."
The money is coming from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in Nov. 2021. Brightline has previously received $25 million from a separate federal grant to build stations in California. The rest of the funding is expected to be covered by private capital and private activity bonds.
"This is a public-private partnership. The $3 billion that we've secured already, with the money already secured in the private sector, that's where the Brightline project will come to fruition," Rosen said on Tuesday. "They've already got all of the environmental studies out of the way, the land. Everything they could possibly do, they've done. They have made every agreement that they needed to."
Earlier this month, the Surface Transportation Board also gave the green light by giving regulatory approval to the project in two separate decisions. That includes some route modifications. For example, moving rail alignment from the east side of Interstate 15 to the median between Primm and north of Goodsprings Road near Jean.
RELATED LINK: Clark County commissioners approve resolution supporting Brightline West, NDOT partnership
According to those documents, the board is also proposing highway ramp realignments and modifications as well as a list of proposed locations, which could be impacted by roadwork. The current project modifications include raising southbound lanes on Interstate 15 south of the Sloan Road interchange to allow for tracks to exit the I-15 median under those lanes and into the Sloan Vehicle Maintenance Facility.
Another proposed modification includes lane realignments along I-15 near Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, which is close to where the Las Vegas station would be built.
One of the rulings also shed more light on rail operations.
"[They] currently plan to operate 50 trains per day, 25 in each direction, between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga. Trains will depart from both Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga at 45-minute intervals and will operate at speeds up to 180 miles per hour," the document reads. "The first trains will depart Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas at 5:30 a.m. with the final trains arriving in Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas at approximately 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. respectively."
The rulings are also authorizing about 50 miles of new rail line between Victor Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, subject to environmental mitigation conditions.
RELATED LINK: Brightline West officials hope to break ground by the end of 2023
Construction on the Brightline West rail line is expected to take about four years and open in time for the Olympics, which are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles in 2028. More details are expected to be announced on Friday. However, Brightline and Nevada transportation officials have previously told Channel 13 they think they can meet the "aggressive deadline".
"It's doable because we've been at this for a long time," Brightline CEO Michael Reininger said. "We've already gotten over the biggest hurdles to making this project a reality, which is assembling the land and getting the environmental hurdles and engineering done. It seems short now but it's because we're standing on the back of a decade worth of work."
